February 23, 2026  |   

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💰 Fintech • August 2021

Square Acquires Afterpay for $29 Billion

The biggest acquisition in POS history signals a massive pivot toward consumer fintech

$29B
Acquisition Price
16M+
Afterpay Users
100K+
Afterpay Merchants
🤝 Deal Overview
DetailInfo
BuyerSquare (now Block, Inc.)
TargetAfterpay (Australian BNPL company)
Price$29 billion (all-stock)
Afterpay Users16 million active
Afterpay Merchants100,000+
Expected CloseQ1 2022
🎯 Impact on POS Users

What Changes for Square Merchants

  • Buy Now Pay Later at checkout — Customers can split purchases into 4 interest-free payments
  • Higher conversion rates — BNPL increases purchase completion by 20-30%
  • Higher average order value — BNPL users spend 40% more per transaction
  • No risk to merchant — Afterpay pays you immediately; they assume the credit risk
⚠️ BNPL fees are paid by the merchant (4-6% per transaction) — significantly higher than standard credit card processing. Evaluate whether the higher conversion rate justifies the cost for your business.

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