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Square to acquire Afterpay for $29B

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Re: Square to acquire Afterpay for $29B

#201

Post by cranekam »

J253 wrote: post #144
ZephyrBlu wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm an early 20s Kiwi zoomer, so somewhat similar demographic. I don't have a credit card and see no point in it. I use a debit card for everything. I don't think most of my friends have credit cards either, but maybe they do and I don't notice.

> I don’t have a credit card and see no point in it. If you use a credit card like a debit card (pay it off in full every month) it can be rewarding depending on the card. I make $75-$100 cash back every month on my credit card.

I assume you’re in the US given $ amounts. Outside the US credit cards are far less developed. A few offer some kind of points or perhaps promotional cash back for some period of time but there’s nothing like the level of competition between cards in the US.

Re: Square to acquire Afterpay for $29B

#202

Post by sjy »

riatin wrote: post #103
mustardo wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The profit margin per "Revenue" dollar is so small for a payment processor it always seemed like a strange metric to value a payments company on for me, as they are essentially just a middle man for this "Revenue" taking it from the customer and giving it to the merchant. Afterpay does typically have higher merchant fees than a regular CC gateway tho

Afterpay aren't really a payments processor in the typical sense though, their business model is nothing short of genius tbh. They've set up a non-traditional 2-sided market connecting consumers + merchants, allow consumers to pay the MERCHANTS back over 4 installments and collect a 5% fee on the way through as well as any late fees (remember they're not taking on the risk here either)

Afterpay bears the credit risk, not the merchants. Search for the keyword "net transaction loss": https://afterpay-corporate.yourcreative.com.au/wp-content/up...

Re: Square to acquire Afterpay for $29B

#203

Post by valzam »

LilBytes wrote: post #186
shell0x wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not American, so I have less insight than you perhaps, but I'd say America is much more affordable than Australia. In Australia most jobs are in Sydney and Melbourne. Perth is mostly for mining and Brisbane doesn't have many tech jobs. Real estate prices in Sydney and Melbourne are in the million(s), but incomes are ~100+k AUD. Some people earn 200k+ as a principal engineer, but that's pretty much it. In America…

Brisbane has plenty of tech jobs. I'm netting $250,000 inc bonuses as an SRE and the markets rife for oppertunity. Not FAANG either.

What sector are you in? According to linkedin and glassdoor senior engineers in Melbourne earn between 110k-160k. 250k is very high.

Re: Square to acquire Afterpay for $29B

#204

Post by valzam »

shell0x wrote: post #121
pcurve wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds 100% like America. :-/

I'm not American, so I have less insight than you perhaps, but I'd say America is much more affordable than Australia. In Australia most jobs are in Sydney and Melbourne. Perth is mostly for mining and Brisbane doesn't have many tech jobs. Real estate prices in Sydney and Melbourne are in the million(s), but incomes are ~100+k AUD. Some people earn 200k+ as a principal engineer, but that's pretty much it. In America…

Except that Australia doesn't have a broken migration system so actually getting a visa is much easier. Also no broken healthcare system, gun laws or student loan crisis. I'd rather raise a family in Australia than America.

Re: Square to acquire Afterpay for $29B

#205

Post by osrec »

JohnJamesRambo wrote: post #188
BugsJustFindMe wrote: post #47

Every time I see one of these announcements, the valuations go up and up and up and up. I remember not long ago being wowed by a 1B acquisition. That was called a unicorn because of how incredible it was. And now we're at 29B. Is this just because money is all a joke?

Yes money is all a joke right now. https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/M1SL

Is that massive jump covid related?

Re: Square to acquire Afterpay for $29B

#206

Post by matkoniecz »

systemvoltage wrote: post #165
mcbridematt wrote: post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Australia (Afterpay's home market), credit card merchant fees are tightly regulated ( Airline/Frequent Flyer point conversions similarly got nerfed, so much so it's better to cycle cards (credit worthiness permitting) every year to get a point bonus up front (e.g 200K points for spending $X000 in the first 3 months) than trying to earn that amount.

That's not the main benefit of using a credit card. The primary benefit of a CC is decoupling it from your bank account - if there is an issue, CC company will fight the charge for you and almost always side on your side. I bought a pair of speakers costing $2500. I tried to reach to the company for a return but no one would answer. No phone, no email, nada. 1 month return deadline was coming up and I called American…

Then why not us debit card? Chargebacks are also available and risk of ending with spiral of debt is removed.

(Yes, it is a real risk. Yes I know that you and me are not going to e so stupid. But I am not trusting this belief.)

Re: Square to acquire Afterpay for $29B

#207

Post by yardstick »

kiwijamo wrote: post #197
yardstick wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s a shame the NZ market hates credit cards so much. In the UK they are widely accepted - as in I struggle to think of a shop that didn’t accept them. Including dairies and food trucks (thanks Square!). Btw I find it weird that EFTPOS cards have no annual fee, but debit cards do, but some credit cards don’t (eg ASB Visa Light has no ongoing fees). I sometimes have to pay £1 via card when in a shop activating a serv…

In New Zealand, the local EFTPOS network is basically a home-grown network that the major NZ banks established in the 1980s's and have continued operating on a shoe-string budget ever since. For the most part merchants only have to pay a low fixed cost to access the network, whereas customers usually don't pay a fee (as most banks either bundle free EFTPOS transactions in a fixed monthly fee package or even offer it…

Kiwi here too, just one of the many in the UK. EFTPOS was great for its time, and yes the low fees are great, but I can’t but wonder about the security of a magstripe compared to a chip. Magstripes are long gone in Europe. Which reminds me- Revolut has great security controls, can enable/disable magstripe, so can disable until until you are in a shop that needs it still, like many places in the US.

That’s why I love Apple Pay (I’ve got UK & NZ bank cards on it, Wise & Revolut too). Now when going out for a local shop I often only take my phone and keys, no need for a bulky (or slim) wallet. Drivers license only if I expect to buy alcohol (and 90% of the time I could have left it at home).

Edit: Also to add, if the pandemic ended up hitting NZ the way it did in the UK/Europe/US, you would see a far higher uptake in contactless payments methods. I dislike touching pin pads now unless I absolutely have to!

Re: Square to acquire Afterpay for $29B

#209

Post by jl6 »

JohnJamesRambo wrote: post #188
BugsJustFindMe wrote: post #47

Every time I see one of these announcements, the valuations go up and up and up and up. I remember not long ago being wowed by a 1B acquisition. That was called a unicorn because of how incredible it was. And now we're at 29B. Is this just because money is all a joke?

Yes money is all a joke right now. https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/M1SL

Can someone explain why x4’ing the money supply hasn’t ÷4’d the value of the dollar? Yet?
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