Over the past 18 months, Afterpay's revenue has more than doubled, but it also saw a huge jump in bad debts.
👉 Background: Afterpay is one of the OG buy now pay later companies that started in Australia in 2014. When it rapidly expanded into the US, it piqued the interest of Block (aka Square), which acquired Afterpay for a whopping $39 billion.
👉 What happened: Over the past 18 months, Afterpay's revenue has more than doubled, but it also saw a huge jump in bad debts. We're talking $475 million in bad debts in the 18 months to December last year.
👉 What else: With the cost of living is rising and interest rates getting higher, it's not surprising to see an uptick in bad debts and a downtick in companies competing in this once-sexy space.
💡The buy now pay later industry once surfed the waves of success, but now it's drowning in a sea of bad debt.
💡Over the past 12 months, we've seen the buy now pay later industry become a lot more challenging. Bad debts have skyrocketed and the buy now, pay later margins have significantly shrunk.
💡And Afterpay isn't the only one battling:
Sign up for Flux and join 100,000 members of the Flux family
