It's a big deal, both figuratively and literally. So why is Square betting 25% of the company's market cap on this buy now, pay later player from Australia?
Hi Alan, why doesn't Square build its own BNPL feature? It seems it's well positioned to build as they already have the merchant and consumer network. what's stopping them?
There's no doubt they could build the BNPL feature. But I think the purchase really is about Square trying to find a way to bridge its seller and consumer ecosystems through acquiring a company that has shown early signs of actually bridging both sides of the market. In fact, if you listen to the Square earnings call announcing the deal, Jack mentions it a few times as a driver for the acquisition. As I note in the piece, I think Afterpay is misunderstood - the core insight that Ant and Nick had was around building a consumer brand that also services merchants. They've finally balanced both and built an absolute monster of a business.
Hi Alan, why doesn't Square build its own BNPL feature? It seems it's well positioned to build as they already have the merchant and consumer network. what's stopping them?
There's no doubt they could build the BNPL feature. But I think the purchase really is about Square trying to find a way to bridge its seller and consumer ecosystems through acquiring a company that has shown early signs of actually bridging both sides of the market. In fact, if you listen to the Square earnings call announcing the deal, Jack mentions it a few times as a driver for the acquisition. As I note in the piece, I think Afterpay is misunderstood - the core insight that Ant and Nick had was around building a consumer brand that also services merchants. They've finally balanced both and built an absolute monster of a business.
Thanks Alan for replying.