[1][2] Founded in 2014 by Nick Molnar and Anthony Eisen, it is now owned by Block, Inc.[3] As of 2023, Afterpay serves 24 million users,[3][4] processes US$27.3 billion in annual payments,[5] and ranks among the three most-used BNPL services globally.

[6] Afterpay offers unsecured installment loans allowing shoppers to make in-store or online purchases, and then repay with a fortnightly frequency.

[7][8] As of 2024, Afterpay operates as a subsidiary of Block, Inc., following an acquisition in 2021, and maintains presence in the U.S., Australia, Canada, France, Italy, New Zealand, Spain and the U.K.[7] In April 2014, Molnar, a Sydney-based jewelry salesman at the time, partnered with a product manager and an engineering manager in Melbourne to design a financial product he had conceived.

[9][10] Later, in October 2014, Molnar and his neighbor, Eisen, formerly a chief investment officer at the Australian holding company Guinness Peat Group, co-founded Afterpay in their home in the suburb of Rose Bay, Sydney.

As the company grew, Molnar began encouraging consumers to contact their favorite retailers and request that they offer Afterpay, resulting in an effective social media campaign.

[note a][12] According to the Sydney Morning Herald in August 2016, Afterpay was being used at more than 300 retailers and had signed up more than 100,000 shoppers, financing $20 million worth of purchases in the quarter ending June 2016.

[15] In January 2018, American venture capital fund Matrix Partners announced its intention to invest A$19.4 million in Afterpay to support its entry into the U.S. retail market.

[17][18][19] With reported underlying sales of A$4.7 billion in the 11 months to May 2019, Afterpay raised A$317.2 million in fresh capital through a share issue in June 2019, in part to help fund its international growth.

The Australian Financial Review commented that the company's growth was spurred by "investors [who] are seeking exposure to e-commerce as the coronavirus crisis pushes more shopping online, and continuing government stimulus will keep bad debts low”.

[24] In 2020, Afterpay unveiled plans to expand its services to at least four continents, including Asia, to capitalize on the online shopping surge brought by the COVID-19 pandemic.

This period also saw an investment of A$300 million, paid in May 2020, from the Chinese company Tencent in return for a 5 per cent equity stake in the lender.

[32] On January 12, 2022, the Bank of Spain approved Block's takeover bid of Afterpay,[33] marking the final hurdle in the acquisition merger.

[3] In November 2024, City A.M. reported that Afterpay claimed a merchant base of 348,000 in five countries and that Molnar was promoted in August 2024 to become Block's "head of sales".

[47] In April 2019, legislation was passed to provide the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) with "Product Intervention Powers" (PIP).

These powers provide ASIC with authority to intervene where it identifies a risk of significant detriment to retail consumers (including those using BNPL services like Afterpay).

[50] In June 2019, the company disclosed that it was under probe by AUSTRAC for potential breaches of the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (AML/CTF regulations).

[12][52][53] PRObono Australia said in 2019 that it was "putting vulnerable young people into vicious cycles of debt that follow them long after they stop spending".

Small businesses are at a particularly high risk of having their cash reserves depleted due to delayed payment from Afterpay, often as much as three months.