My first post to HC. As a holder of this stock but not a user of Afterpay one of the questions I've asked myself is 'Is Afterpay right? Is it predatory or does it provide a valuable service where previously nothing similar existed' Anybody familiar with the Australian building industry knows how carefully building companies manage cash flow and to some extent use their sub-contractors to finance their projects. Before the Securities of Payments Act came in it was far worse.
Maybe what Afterpay does is provide people from all types of financial backgrounds the opportunity to manage their cash flow better, the same way in which accountants manage cash flow for business. Maybe uni students who would like something this week and know they can pay it off next payday can buy now. Maybe someone with a mortgage would rather use Afterpay then take money from their offset account. Maybe in the future there will be apps that work with Afterpay to manage cash flow across a number of different payment or savings locations that can be customized to suit an individuals needs rather than the needs of a credit provider. Maybe this already exists and I'm just not aware of it.
To me, the fact that Afterpay relies on the retailer for their primary source of income is the key difference between this business and payday lenders or credit card providers. I think a senate inquiry should be welcome, if additional regulation is required it may be a good thing. It might be a bumpy ride for APT shareholders in the short term but I feel the the long term prospects of this ever-expanding tech company look really promising.
