CONSUMER CREDIT – AUSTRALIA

Openpay not the last BNPL failure

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Original article by David Swan
The Australian – Page: 15 : 8-Feb-23

Splitit CEO Nandan Sheth warns that more ‘buy now, pay later’ providers are likely to collapse, after Openpay was placed in the hands of receivers from McGrathNicol. Sheth contends that Openpay’s business model was "fundamentally flawed", and he is not surprised about the company’s demise. He notes that many BNPL providers focus on subprime consumers who may not have credit; he adds that Splitit uses a customer’s existing credit from a credit card issuer, while it deals with merchants rather than consumers. Openpay has retrenched about 80 employees and shut down its platform, and McGrathNicol is seeking a buyer for the company.

CORPORATES
OPENPAY GROUP LIMITED – ASX OPY, McGRATH NICOL AND PARTNERS SERVICES PTY LTD, SPLITIT PAYMENTS LIMITED – ASX SPT

Openpay collapses, shuts down platform as shares suspended

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Original article by David Swan
The Australian – Page: 13 & 17 : 7-Feb-23

Barry Kogan, Jonathan Henry and Rob Smith from McGrathNicol have been appointed as receivers and managers of Openpay. The ‘buy now, pay later’ provider has advised that customers will now longer be able to use its platform to make new purchases, although they must pay all outstanding balances. Openpay listed on the Australian sharemarket in 2019 following an IPO that raised $50m. Josh Gilbert of trading platform eToro says the BNPL sector has gone from "hero to zero" among investors in recent months. Rival BNPL provider Laybuy recently announced that it will delist.

CORPORATES
OPENPAY GROUP LIMITED – ASX OPY, McGRATH NICOL AND PARTNERS SERVICES PTY LTD, ETORO, LAYBUY GROUP HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX LBY

Labor to regulate buy now, pay later

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Original article by Glenda Korporaal
The Australian – Page: 19 : 27-Apr-22

Shadow financial services minister Stephen Jones has flagged greater regulation of the ‘buy now, pay later’ sector if Labor wins the federal election. Jones says the BNPL sector is operating in an "ambiguous" regulatory space, and he contends that it requires some degree of regulation as it is directly competing with credit providers. He has also indicated that Labor will take action to halt a sharp decline in the number of financial advisers, with many leaving the industry in recent years due to federal government reforms.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Buy now, merge later: Zip, Sezzle in $491m tie-up

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Original article by David Ross
The Australian – Page: 13 & 16 : 1-Mar-22

Zip Co will acquire ‘buy now, pay later’ rival Sezzle in an all-scrip deal that values the latter at $491 million. The transaction comes less than two months after Latitude Financial announced that it would buy Humm’s BNPL and credit card businesses. The announcement coincided with the release of Zip’s results for the six months to 31 December. Zip reported an interim loss of $172.8 million, down from $455.9 million a year earlier, while revenue was up 89 per cent to $302.2 million.

CORPORATES
ZIP CO LIMITED – ASX Z1P, SEZZLE INCORPORATED – ASX SZL, LATITUDE FINANCIAL SERVICES GROUP LIMITED – ASX LFS, HUMM GROUP LIMITED – ASX HUM

Buy now, merge later: Zip, Sezzle in $491m tie-up

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Original article by David Ross
The Australian – Page: 13 & 16 : 1-Mar-22

Zip Co will acquire ‘buy now, pay later’ rival Sezzle in an all-scrip deal that values the latter at $491 million. The transaction comes less than two months after Latitude Financial announced that it would buy Humm’s BNPL and credit card businesses. The announcement coincided with the release of Zip’s results for the six months to 31 December. Zip reported an interim loss of $172.8 million, down from $455.9 million a year earlier, while revenue was up 89 per cent to $302.2 million.

CORPORATES
ZIP CO LIMITED – ASX Z1P, SEZZLE INCORPORATED – ASX SZL, LATITUDE FINANCIAL SERVICES GROUP LIMITED – ASX LFS, HUMM GROUP LIMITED – ASX HUM

ACCC green-lights Afterpay megadeal

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Original article by James Eyers, Jonathan Shapiro
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 6-Nov-21

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission has advised that it will not oppose the acquisition of ‘buy now, pay later’ provider Afterpay by US-based Square. The proposed $39bn deal will now be put to a virtual special meeting of Afterpay’s shareholders on 6 December, and chair Elana Rubin has urged them to support the transaction. The deal has also been approved by US antitrust regulators, and it is expected to be cleared by the Foreign Investment Review Board ahead of the shareholders’ meeting.

CORPORATES
AFTERPAY LIMITED – ASX APT, SQUARE INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. FOREIGN INVESTMENT REVIEW BOARD

Boost for IPO market as Fahour’s Latitude soars on debut

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Original article by Joyce Moullakis
The Australian – Page: 13 & 17 : 21-Apr-21

Shares in non-bank lender Latitude Financial closed at $2.70 on 20 April, four per cent above the stock’s listing price of $2.60. Latitude reached an intra-day high of $2.99, and the stock finished its first day of trading with a market capitalisation of about $2.7bn. Latitude’s successful sharemarket debut after several failed attempts in the past is likely to bolster the IPO market; indeed, a number of rival non-bank lenders are considering a sharemarket float, including SocietyOne and Pepper Australia.

CORPORATES
LATITUDE FINANCIAL SERVICES GROUP LIMITED – ASX LFS, SOCIETYONE AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, PEPPER AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

ANZ steers well clear of buy now, pay later

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Original article by Ticky Fullerton
The Australian – Page: 18 : 9-Nov-20

The ‘buy now, pay later’ industry is enjoying strong growth, but the ANZ Bank intends to avoid the sector. The bank’s former chairman David Gonski says that while it is good that BNPL providers allow people to access credit when they need it, consumers must be mindful that they will pay interest when using these services. Meanwhile, Gonski believes that Australia’s investment banking sector presents opportunities at present. Gonski stepped down as ANZ chairman in late October.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ

RBA warns on buy now, pay later dangers

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Original article by Gerard Cockburn
The Australian – Page: 14 : 16-Jan-20

Documents released under Freedom of Information laws shows that the Reserve Bank of Australia had expressed concern about the growth of ‘buy now, pay later’ platforms in March 2019. The internal memorandum cautioned that the rapid growth in such platforms is beginning to present a risk to financial stability, and noted that some consumers may not fully understand the risks associated with these platforms. However, the central bank also concluded that buy now, pay later services can be more beneficial to some consumers than credit cards.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, AFTERPAY LIMITED – ASX APT, ZIP CO LIMITED – ASX Z1P, GOLDMAN SACHS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Reserve finds silver lining in household debt cloud

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Original article by Cliona O’Dowd
The Australian – Page: 27 : 15-Nov-19

Australia’s household debt-to-income ratio is now about 190 per cent, compared with around 70 per cent in the early 1990s. However, the Reserve Bank’s assistant governor Michele Bullock notes that households that are in the top 40 per cent of income distribution account for three quarters of household debt. Bullock adds that while there has also been an increase in mortgage loan arrears, it is largely confined to several states. She also says negative housing equity is generally not a major concern unless somebody becomes unemployed and must sell their home.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA