The
BNPL firm expects to let all its users be able to make purchases
by fall this year at 13 large U.S. merchants, including CVS,
Dell, Kroger, Macy's, Nike, Nordstrom, Nordstrom Rack, Sephora,
Target, Victoria's Secret, Walgreens and Yeti.
The move marks a shift by the Australian fintech star, which had
so far limited customers to just its partner merchants.
Rivals such as Klarna and Zip Co Ltd's Quadpay offer their users
an option to pay at any store in the United States through their
app.
Afterpay currently makes most of its money by charging a fee,
between 4% and 6%, to the merchants it partners with, but
analysts expect those rates to fall as competition rises.
The company said it would receive "affiliate revenue" from the
new merchants, but did not elaborate on the actual numbers.
Burgeoning competition since 2020, when the pandemic sent more
shoppers online, is driving BNPL firms to aggressively expand
overseas and look at widening their offerings as larger
traditional financial firms, such as PayPal Holdings, enter the
fray.
The United States, however, remains the sector's biggest prize,
with BNPL firms heavily investing in marketing and partnerships.
Afterpay and its main Australian-listed peers have all said they
are eyeing a U.S. listing.
At home in Australia, where adoption is high and growth rates
are slowing, the upcoming entry of the country's top lender
Commonwealth Bank of Australia and PayPal, who are both
promising lower fees, has seen Afterpay prepare to offer branded
savings account.
(Reporting by Nikhil Kurian Nainan in Bengaluru; Editing by
Krishna Chandra Eluri)
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