This Month
Zip raises $150m corporate loans at 15pc
The buy now, pay later company says it has refinanced its corporate loan, the latest in a long-running effort to clean up its balance sheet.
- Jonathan Shapiro
Bullock says banks should bear more costs of moving banknotes
The RBA governor’s comments come amid negotiations with cash transport firm Armaguard, which has warned it needs an injection of funds to operate.
- Updated
- James Eyers
Afterpay’s bad debts climb, just like its costs
Accounts filed by the Block-owned buy now, pay later company for the 18 months to December 2022 show scale eluded the Australian business.
- Nick Bonyhady
November
CBA’s Yello rewards program takes leaf out of Afterpay’s playbook
The bank’s new rewards program, being used by 8 million users of its banking app, is driving new sales to a host of large retailers.
- James Eyers
BNPL laws delayed until new year amid legislative drafting constraints
Minister Stephen Jones said resourcing pressures would push back finalising a bill to bring Afterpay and Zip under the credit act until early next year.
- James Eyers
Buy now, pay later companies will struggle to survive, Moody’s warns
The rating agency says that without stemming losses or raising more capital, most companies risk depleting their equity in the next two to three years.
- Jonathan Shapiro
Klarna returns to profitability as more shoppers borrow
The Swedish fintech reported an operating profit of $18.5 million in the July to September quarter.
- Aisha S Gani
October
- Exclusive
- Funding
Digital debt collector counts benefits of a cost-of-living crisis
Perennial-backed InDebted has made its first acquisition since 2021 as a rise in people defaulting on payments sees it approach profitability for the first time.
- Tess Bennett
August
Zip loss narrows, volumes rise as BNPL adapts to downturn
Zip Co is now cash flow positive in the United States, New Zealand and Australia as revenue jumped, but restructuring costs hit the BNPL bottom line.
- Updated
- James Eyers
Telcos, non-bank lenders spurn demands to fund financial counsellors
Banks, energy retailers, insurers, bookmakers and Telstra have agreed to government requests for industry funding to support indebted customers, but others are holding out.
- Andrew Tillett
CBA ready to launch its challenger to Stripe
The bank will launch its Powerboard payment system next month, a core part of its strategy to fend off US fintech Stripe and protect the data it uses for lending.
- James Eyers
Zip founders depart for divisional postings as new CEO appointed
The buy now, pay later group has reshuffled its management ranks as the company seeks to turn its sharemarket fortunes around.
- Jonathan Shapiro
Block shares crunched on concerns about spending
Block shares fell 10 per cent on Friday despite second-quarter earnings beating forecasts as the CFO said macro headwinds were “more pronounced in Australia”.
- Jonathan Shapiro and James Eyers
July
Ombudsman David Locke ‘deeply concerned’ about rising bank complaints
New AFCA data shows nearly 100,000 financial services customers lodged complaints over the past year, up 34pc, as the cost-of-living crisis bites.
- James Eyers
Downsized Zip races after revenue jumps in June
Zip has moved away from its global ambitions to focus on the core US and Australian business, where revenue improved last quarter.
- Updated
- Lucas Baird
June
Australia’s food, drug and finance regulators can be progressive
Founders say Food Standards Australia and the Therapeutic Goods Administration are open to supporting new business models.
- James Eyers
Zip Co raising $25m equity, restructures $330m con notes
Buy-now-pay-later business Zip Co had Goldman Sachs stitching up a $25 million equity raise on Thursday morning, amid a broader restructure of its liabilities.
- Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport
May
Humm shares fall as regulator stops it from signing up new customers
ASIC’s concerns about the buy now, pay later group come as the government says it will regulate all providers and require responsible lending checks.
- Updated
- James Eyers
- Opinion
- The AFR View
Jones sizes up buy now, pay later regulation
Having ticked the BNPL box, the financial services minister now needs to lay out Labor’s plan to fix Australia’s broken wealth advice model.
- The AFR View
New regulations will ‘throttle’ buy now, pay later
Analysts covering the sector homed in on the potential for more stringent customer credit checking and credit limits to increase costs and slow growth.
- Ayesha de Kretser and James Eyers
