Payments App Square to Acquire Australian Company Afterpay

Payments app Square is acquiring Australian “buy now, pay later” company Afterpay in a deal worth nearly $29 billion to Afterpay.

The deal will help San Francisco-based Square further expand in Australia, its second largest market, which is used by thousands of small businesses to process credit card transactions. The deal also promotes Afterpay’s service to Square’s US customers.

Allowing users to gradually increase the cost of their purchases with regular, interest-free installments, Afterpay works with more than 16 million consumers and nearly 100,000 merchants worldwide. As part of the deal, co-founders Anthony Eisen and Nick Molnar will join Square. After the deal closes, Square will also appoint an Afterpay director to its board.

Square plans to integrate Afterpay’s business offerings so it can offer small merchants “buy now, pay later” at checkout.

“Square and Afterpay have a common purpose,” Square CEO Jack Dorsey said in a statement. “We built our business to make the financial system more equitable, accessible and inclusive, and Afterpay has built a trusted brand that aligns with these principles.”