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Square to acquire Afterpay for $29B

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Re: Square to acquire Afterpay for $29B

#251

Post by nsonha »

dannyw wrote: post #240
nsonha wrote: post #229

Earlier quoted context omitted.

200k is like a low base for FAANG, and there are other great companies that pays well not just them. It is a good salary in America but not that impresive, as you can get that by just being an individual contributor. On the other hand, AUD300k is a C-level salary here in Australia and way past the start of top tax bracket (AUD180k) SO numbers are way off comparing to levels'. They're heavily skewed toward the low end…

Senior engineers at Google Australia can make AUD 300k total comp. You don't have to be C-level.

doesn't seem to be ordinary level though, on levels > Australia, the number of entry points above 300k fits in the first page (10 people).

The point is, in AU, making 300k is a really big deal (high rank in FAANG), while it's far from a big deal in the US.

Re: Square to acquire Afterpay for $29B

#252

Post by Accacin »

ZephyrBlu wrote: post #135
Khaine wrote: post #132

In Australia millennials, are allergic to credit cards. Credit card usage in that demographic is really low. Instead they prefer BNPL services as a credit mechanism. Banks have also responded and offer credit cards that don’t act like normal credit cards[1] [1] https://www.commbank.com.au/credit-cards/commbank-neo.html

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'm in the UK, and use one (IMO) sensibly. If there's a larger purchase I'll often find a 0% credit card and use that, then pay back. I only do this for stuff I could afford to pay back immediately if required.

Secondly, I'm not sure outside the UK, but we have something called Section 75, if I buy something and spend just £1 on a credit card, they are jointly liable for compensating me if something happens. If I'm buying a car, or large purchase I'll often pay £100 on a credit card just for the extra protection.

Re: Square to acquire Afterpay for $29B

#253

Post by mcintyre1994 »

pylon wrote: post #20

As a customer are there any downsides to using these BNPL platforms when I'm buying something? I generally never buy anything online that I can't afford to pay for it outright so I have never used them before.

The main one in the UK is that you lose Section 75 protection, which is what forces credit card companies to protect your purchases. The obvious others are if you buy something you wouldn't buy without BNPL (their business model is charging retailers on the basis that people in aggregate will), or you miss payments and get late charges/a worse credit score.

Re: Square to acquire Afterpay for $29B

#254

Post by jlangenauer »

xenihn wrote: post #142
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've received roughly $3000 in rewards from my credit card usage over the past six years. Not a life-changing amount, but not completely insignificant, either. I think the biggest thing that I've lost is data privacy, but I would think that debit cards incur the same cost. I've never used any of the benefits like extra insurance/warranty, but it's nice to know they exist. Chargebacks on debit cards are also much more…

You do realise that you have paid that $3000 in higher prices, right? The credit card companies and banks are not giving you free money.

Re: Square to acquire Afterpay for $29B

#257

Post by ElCapitanMarkla »

ZephyrBlu wrote: post #174
hnick wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Insurance, points, cashback, chargebacks. It's also a one month interest free float of your funds if you pay in full each month, meaning you earn some interest. I know some debit cards are getting closer to credit cards in these areas but at least when I first got one, they were just plastic cash. You spend it you lose it, the bank won't support you with clawing it back.

> Insurance, points, cashback, chargebacks The first 3 don't really seem to exist in relation to CCs in NZ, and wanting/needing to do a chargeback seems unlikely. There are probably mild benefits to me having a CC over a debit card in NZ, but it doesn't seem to be anything like the US.

Sure do, I've got those on my NZ CC. Worth it for the travel insurance if you are travelling overseas etc. The points are hand too, usually cash them in for vouchers each christmas.

Re: Square to acquire Afterpay for $29B

#258

Post by roenxi »

AussieWog93 wrote: post #122
roenxi wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The fee is paid by the customer. It isn't an externality. An externality is when the cost is paid by someone who isn't party to the transaction.

>The fee is paid by the customer. No it isn't. It's literally against their TOS for merchants to add on a surcharge for using Afterpay.

And yet, magically and by the power of the market, the fee will still be paid for by customers. It isn't like the merchant has a non-customer source of income. The money has to be coming from them.

If you don't want to pay the surcharge, shop somewhere that doesn't offer Afterpay. Or somewhere that doesn't honour the TOS, I once got an extra egg in my soup for paying cash.

Re: Square to acquire Afterpay for $29B

#259

Post by healsjnr1 »

hnick wrote: post #164
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.

Insurance, points, cashback, chargebacks. It's also a one month interest free float of your funds if you pay in full each month, meaning you earn some interest. I know some debit cards are getting closer to credit cards in these areas but at least when I first got one, they were just plastic cash. You spend it you lose it, the bank won't support you with clawing it back.

Points for most people are a zero sum or losing game.

I worked for a points loyalty program, and the customer always pays. The bank knows their market well, they know the redemption rate of points for different demographics and they set the annual fees on points earning cards appropriately.

For a small number of very diligent points hack customers, the bank loses money on this and the customer wins. For a larger proportion customers get back roughly what they paid in fees.

Then for the remainder the points eventually get written off or redeemed for value that is far lower than the fees they paid.

Re: Square to acquire Afterpay for $29B

#260

Post by andruby »

fungizid wrote: post #212
JohnJamesRambo wrote: post #188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

The steep increase at the end mostly does not reflect a change in economic fundamentals but rather banks relabeling savings accounts as transaction accounts in response to regulatory changes. If you look at M2 instead of M1, the increase disappears. More info: https://fredblog.stlouisfed.org/2021/05/savings-are-now-more... (Edit: Updated link to a more recent blog post)

Still a huge jump in M2 in Feb 2020: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/M2NS
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