Australia’s Afterpay to launch banking app in October
FILE PHOTO: A logo for the company Afterpay is seen in a store window in Sydney, Australia, July 9, 2020. REUTERS/Stephen Coates/File Photo
July 20, 2021
By Nikhil Nainan
(Reuters) -Afterpay Ltd will launch its banking app in October to widen its offerings beyond buy now, pay later (BNPL) services for its 3.5 million-plus Australian users as competition intensifies, the company said on Tuesday.
The move by Afterpay into banking will test the reach of its relationship with users after a year of explosive growth that saw more people choose to pay in instalments for everyday items during the pandemic.
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An overhaul of employee share schemes and the tax treatment of foreign investors and financial service providers will be unveiled in Tuesday’s federal budget, as part of a package of measures designed to attract global talent to Australia.
The measures also seek to capitalise on the political unrest in Hong Kong, moves in the US and Britain to increases taxes on business, and Australia’s effective suppression of coronavirus.
They form the response to a review led by Peter Verwer, the former Property Council boss who was appointed in the midst of the pandemic last year as the Prime Minister’s Special Envoy for Global Business and Talent Attraction.