Square’s rollout of the BNPL offering comes six months after it announced its plans to acquire Afterpay. It is aimed at helping sellers attract new shoppers and drive incremental revenue.
According to a McKinsey & Company study, approximately 56% of American consumers have used a BNPL service. The majority of customers using BNPL plans skew on the younger side, with 75% of the users in the U.S. being either millennials or Gen Z — a key demographic group that is continuing to gain spending power.
“In joining with Square, Afterpay can now more meaningfully give small and midsize sellers the tools to attract young, engaged shoppers who prefer Afterpay and help these sellers compete alongside businesses of all sizes,” said Afterpay co-founder Nick Molnar, who now serves as Afterpay Lead at Square.
Afterpay’s solution is being made available to Square sellers to try at no extra cost up until May 10, 2022. Sellers can access Afterpay from their Square Online dashboard and opt-in to receive early access to Afterpay now, with automatic enablement rolling out to eligible Square Online sites over the next few weeks.
All BNPL transactions will be processed at sellers’ standard eCommerce processing rates during the promotional period. Additionally, Square sellers will receive their total earnings from each sale immediately, while consumers will still have the comfort of paying through four interest-free installments.
Afterpay will also soon be available on Square’s developer platform and in-person payments.
Square sellers are seemingly liking the option to extend flexible payment solutions to their customers.
“Using Afterpay on our Square-powered website has been a huge boost to business,” said Jeannie & Kendall Glenn, owners of Kendall’s Greek Smartwear. “Our purchases are nearly 20% larger when shoppers use Afterpay, and we receive earnings instantly in our Square account to keep our business moving. Our repeat customers appreciate the new BNPL option, especially since they can keep earning points through our Square Loyalty program, and we’ve been able to engage and convert more new customers than ever before through e-commerce.”
