BNPL

The annual ASX Small and Mid-Cap Conference took place this week, albeit in a virtual setting, over two days. The conference showcased a diverse mix of quality small-mid cap companies with names such as Mydeal.Com.au (ASX: MYD), Laybuy Group Holdings (ASX: LBY), Plenti Group (ASX: PLT), hipages Group (ASX: HPG) and Aussie Broadband (ASX: ABB)….

CBA has been a quiet investor in the BNPL industry since August 2019, when it made an initial investment of US$100 million into a private Swedish bank Klarna, which offers its own BNPL product. This investment was increased by another US$200 million in January 2020, with CBA taking its Klarna holding to 5%. Ostensibly, this…

Market weakens, CBA enters BNPL space, Corporate Travel sell down The ASX200 (ASX:XJO) fell 0.5% on Wednesday, following a confluence of global factors. It was a mixed day with six of the eleven key industry sectors falling but energy and materials remaining under pressure. The iron ore price has remained strong, however, both BHP Group (ASX:BHP) and Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) fell as other commodity…

ASX gains on travel boost, inflation expectations tempered, but confidence key The ASX200 (ASX:XJO) finished the week strongly, adding 0.8% on Friday, enough to deliver the second straight week of gains. Stimulus was at the top of the agenda this week, with a combination of comments by the Reserve Bank of Australia and the Federal Government setting the direction of markets….

Gold miners surge, technology recovers, iron ore price down 6%, ASX lower The ASX200 couldn’t capitalise on the strong lead from US technology stocks overnight, falling 0.8% as the lack of growth opportunities came to the fore. Afterpay (ASX:APT) returned to strength jumping 7.5% after announcing the acquisition of Pagantis, a BNPL provider with a European presence.  All eyes, however,…

Just when you thought the Buy Now, Pay Later frenzy was over, yet another BNPL player is gearing up to list on the ASX and join this phenomenon. Coming to the party at this later stage hasn’t discouraged the company, Limepay, which is confident it has what it takes to capture market share in this…

Shares in Afterpay (ASX:APT) are down close to 10% after the release of their half year accounts and post a trading halt. The leading BNPL platform announced a complex deal through which their partners in the US have waived a portion of their investment in return for A$373 million, whilst issuing another convertible note to…

The Australian reporting season stepped up another gear this week, dividends and cost cutting were the most important topics on the agenda. The threat of inflation is also clearly increasing, with government bond yields in both the US and Australia hitting 12-month highs. Despite this investors remain resilient and unconcerned about the risk of an…

Afterpay this, Afterpay that… what started five years ago as a small payments platform quickly became one of Australia’s most valuable and iconic companies. Afterpay listed at $1.00 only a few years ago (April 2016), and on today’s numbers is worth a staggering $41.7 billion at $150 a share. That is an astronomical gain of…

With the onset of COVID-19 and the lockdowns that followed, the move to digital accelerated, becoming a shift of necessity rather than choice. The move occurred almost seamlessly. Bricks-and-mortar retailers shifted online, triggering a move to digital with buy-now, pay-later (BNPL) vendors popping up offering solutions to replace physical cash. This is just one example…