Afterpay merges with Cash App and rebrands

Buy now, pay later (BNPL) payment service Afterpay is merging with Cash App, the US money app, to become Cash App Afterpay, expanding access to its pay-in-4 product to more merchants in the US and accelerating its growth in the region.

Both fintech companies are part of Block Inc. and the move will allow eligible Cash App customers to have access to Afterpay’s leading pay over time products when shopping online at hundreds of thousands of partner merchant sites.

Nick Molnar, global head of sales at Block and co-founder of Afterpay, said in a statement: “The scale of Cash App’s 57 million monthly actives means our merchant partners benefit from a larger network of customers, and eligible customers gain greater access to simple, fair, and accessible payment options outside of traditional systems.

“We believe that Cash App Afterpay will not only be an accelerant to Cash App growth, but also an accelerant in the growing preference towards BNPL options in the United States.”

The merger will mean that merchant partners offering Afterpay’s Pay Over Time products can reach the eligible customers in Cash App’s 57 million monthly active network, which has a largely Gen Z consumer base. Cash App was ranked among the top five most authentic brands to Gen Z, while Afterpay was ranked the most trusted BNPL provider compared to other providers.