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North America has emerged as the largest sales-generating region for buy now, pay later provider Afterpay Ltd. In the Australia-based company’s latest financial results, North America sales accounted for A$2.6 billion (US$2 billion) in the third quarter ended March 30. Only Australia and New Zealand approach that volume. Overall, Afterpay said sales totaled A$5.2 billion (US$4 billion) for the quarter.
North American third-quarter sales increased, in U.S. dollars, increased 157.1% from $778 million in the same quarter a year ago.
And the number of active customers in the region swelled 112% quarter-over-quarter, increasing from 4.4 million to 9.3 million. Afterpay’s total active customer count is 14.6 million, up 75% from 8.4 million a year ago. Total active merchants globally increased 77% to 85,800 from 48,400. Afterpay’s sales growth in North America could be attributed to greater merchant acceptance. In North America, the active merchant count of 23,200 was up from 9,100 in the same quarter last year.
Because of the growth North America, Afterpay said it is working with advisors on the possibility of becoming a publicly traded company in the United States, saying the U.S. market is now its largest contributor to its business and is expected to continue to grow strongly. “While Afterpay intends to remain an Australian headquartered company, our shareholder base is increasingly becoming more globally focused. A U.S. listing would further accommodate this growing interest,” says an Afterpay statement. There is no timeline for such a move.
