Jack Dorsey’s Block snaps up buy-now pay-later firm Clearpay
The payments giant headed up by twitter founder Jack Dorsey has snapped up buy-now pay-later firm Clearpay.
San Francisco-headquartered Square announced last night it had acquired all of the issued shares in Afterpay, as Clearpay is known in the US, which it said will enable Block to “expand access to more consumers” and drive revenues for merchants.
Dorsey said: “We’re excited to welcome the Afterpay team to Block and are eager to get to work.
“Together, we’ll deliver even better products and services for sellers and consumers while staying true to our shared purpose of making the financial system more fair and accessible to everyone.”
The acquisition is the latest move by Block as it looks to extends its reach into the so-called cash app space. Block said it would be working with Clearpay to roll out its BNPL product to merchants immediately and had already launched its first integration with Afterpay to e-commerce merchants in the US and Australia.
Sharon Rothstein, a former Afterpay Director and Operating Partner at growth equity firm Stripes, has also been appointed to Block’s board of directors as part of the deal.
She said: “I’ve long admired Block’s purpose to make the financial system more accessible and inclusive. I’m honored and excited to bring my global experiences to the diverse expertise of this Board.”