Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) has dramatically expanded its ‘one-time card’ that US customers can use, onboarding big-name merchants that represent much of the online shopping market in America.
The buy now, pay later provider revealed Wednesday night that the likes of Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN), Nike Inc (NYSE: NKE), Target Corporation (NYSE: TGT), Sephora, Macy’s and Dell Technologies are now available through its app.
Customers can now generate a single-use card to enter at checkout for any of these brands. The transaction is then facilitated by Afterpay, with all the usual benefits of instalment payments.
Nordstrom Inc, Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc, CVS Health Corp, Kroger Co, Victoria’s Secret and Yeti Holdings Inc were also onboarded during the expansion.
The 12 brands, according to Afterpay, represent “almost half” of all the e-commerce volume processed in the United States.
Afterpay North American general manager Zahir Khoja said that consumer demand for online shopping remained high in the post-COVID era.
“Consumers still want the convenience and flexibility of buying with the click of a mouse as part of their ‘new normal’,” he said.
“We are thrilled to continue to support our customers by allowing them to shop every day at their favourite brands with Afterpay for things they need and want in their lives.”
The development in North America comes after Afterpay revealed that more than 650,000 Australians signed up in the first 3 weeks of its contactless virtual Mastercard (NYSE: MA) offering.
That product enables customers to use the buy now, pay later service regardless of whether the merchant has an agreement with Afterpay.
“In-store [activity] is expected to further accelerate following the launch of the Afterpay Card in Australia,” the company stated in its April quarterly update.
Afterpay shares have had a wild ride this year. Starting the year at $119, it surpassed $160 during intra-day trading in February, then dipped as low as $84.50 last month.
They were sitting at $122.90 after close of trading on Wednesday night, after gaining 3.17% during the day.
Morgan Stanley this week retained its overweight rating and $145 price target for the Australian fintech’s stocks.
