Square Announces $29 Billion Acquisition of BNPL Provider Afterpay

Square announced it would acquire Afterpay, a leading buy-now-pay-later provider based in Australia, in an all-stock transaction valued at approximately $29 billion. The deal was designed to integrate Afterpay's BNPL platform into both Square's Seller ecosystem for merchants and its Cash App consumer platform. Afterpay's installment payment technology would enable Square merchants to offer BNPL options at the point of sale, driving higher conversion and average order values.

For Cash App users, the acquisition would introduce flexible payment options directly within the app. The combination positioned Square to compete more aggressively against PayPal's Pay in 4 and other embedded lending providers. The transaction, subject to regulatory approvals, was expected to close in early 2022.

The deal highlighted the growing convergence of payments, lending, and embedded finance as major fintech platforms sought to offer comprehensive financial services to both merchants and consumers.