PayPal, the US online payments company, has agreed to acquire Paidy, a Tokyo-based buy now, pay later group, (BNPL) for 300 billion yen ($2.7 billion), Frank Media reports, quoting Financial Times.

Paidy, founded in 2008, is one of Japan’s few “unicorns”, or start-ups worth more than $1bn. The company launched the country’s first zero-interest post-payment service in 2020.

Paidy allows its 6m registered users to split the cost of goods into three equal installments with no interest. Users can pay off their balance using cash at convenience stores or bank transfers.

Paidy was valued at $1.3bn when it raised $120m in March 2021, and was expected to list its shares in Tokyo later this year.



Banks.am reminds that American payment company Square, headed by Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, and Australian online lending firm Afterpay have agreed on an USD 29bn acquisition deal for all of the issued shares in Afterpay. Square plans to close the deal in the first quarter of 2022.

Afterpay allows customers to pay in four interest-free installments for an item and only pay commission fee if they miss the automatic payment.

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