Did you feel a massive gust of wind sweeping the nation over the weekend? That was every one of your broke mates breathing a collective sigh of relief over the weekend. Why? Because Afterpay has officially announced an expansion of its buy now, pay later service to hospitality venues. In other words, the round said mates have been delaying, evading, and “forgetting” altogether can be paid off in four easy instalments.
Partnering with hospitality giant Australian Venue Co. (AVC), the financial platform helmed by AFR Rich Lister Nick Molnar is rolling out to 160 pubs, bars, and restaurants all around Australia – ranging from Belles Hot Chicken to Bentley. And while this doesn’t exactly mark the first occasion of buy now, pay later within the realm of domestic hospitality, it certainly marks a major turning point.
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“We’ve had a lot of our customers ask for it as a payment option,” says Paul Waterson, AVC Managing Director.
“Over 90% of our transactions are now cashless, so this was the next logical step. I think you will find other hospitality groups embrace BNPL pretty quickly too.”
“It’s only early days, it’s only been a week, but already uptake has been very strong. A lot of our patrons are millennials, they use Afterpay for budgeting purposes and they don’t typically have credit cards.”
Prior to Afterpay joining the party, a homegrown hospitality-centric BNPL service by the name of Payo had already planted its flag – proudly retaining the title of the very first in Australia. Currently, it’s available in over 700 venues across Sydney, Melbourne, and the Gold Coast.
“BNPL is replacing old-school credit cards with a more user-friendly form of payment,” says Taf Chiwanza, CEO of Payo.
“If you have ever used a credit card to pay for brunch or Thai noodles, this is pretty much the same concept.”
“We’re going to keep innovating specifically for restaurants, too. It’s currently possible to tip through the platform, but by the end of November you will also be able to split the bill.”
But while the temptation is more than a little alluring, warnings have already been issued. During the last financial year, before hospitality venues were even in the conversation, Afterpay generated close to $100 million worth of revenue in late fees alone, which accounts for roughly 10% of its total annual revenue. And unlike your run-of-the-mill credit card providers, BNPL operations aren’t legally obligated to check whether borrowers can afford their repayments, leading to unmanageable debt.
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“Spending money in hospitality venues via BNPL credit could be risky for some people, as food and drinks are both recurring and essential expenses,” James Hunt, Policy Adviser at Financial Counselling Australia, tells Good Food.
“On a night out it may be tempting to keep spending and putting it through via BNPL, but this could become very expensive, very quickly.”
For reference, Afterpay currently has a credit limit of $2,000. Payo, on the other hand, will only allow you to spend $1,000.
Check out the pubs, bars, and restaurants where Afterpay is now available below.
Afterpay Hospitality Venues (Australia)
- Salt Bar
- Kingsley’s
- The Winery
- Untied
- Cargo
- The Rook
- Beer Deluxe King St Wharf
- Manly Wine
- Bungalow 8
- Beer Deluxe T2 Sydney Airport
- Beer Deluxe Albury
- Albion Hotel
- Manly 16ft Skiff Sailing Club
- North Bondi Fish
- Vapiano Flinders Ln
- Scoopy
- Chiswick Woollahra
- Easy Times
- Belles Hot Chicken Barangaroo
- Fridays
- Carindale Hotel
- Bar Pacino
- Riverland
- Piano Bar Ballarat
- Smith St Social
- Perseverance
- Evies Bar & Diner
- Beer Deluxe Fed Square
- Lord Stanley Hotel
- Jindalee Hotel
- Cleveland Sands Hotel
- Department of Pizza
- Newnham Hotel
- Reef Gateway
- The Leopold
- Straight And Narrow Cafe
- Golden Gate Hotel
- Aviary
- Grafton Hotel
- Sands Tavern
- O’Connell’s
- Loft
- Provincial
- Redcliffe Tavern
- Piano Bar Bendigo
- Oxley
- Vapiano Garden City
- College Lawn Hotel
- The Wickham
- Everton Park Hotel
- Hopscotch
- Streets Of Hyderabad
- Regatta Hotel
- Globe
- Santa Monica
- Pastuso Restaurant
- Mango Hill
- Mansfield Tavern
- Guildford
- Sweetwater
- Duke of Wellington
- Middle Park Hotel
- Koala Tavern
- Salisbury Hotel
- Wallaby Hotel
- Fargo
- Finnigans Chin Keperra
- Wharf Hotel
- Currimundi Hotel
- Beenleigh Tavern
- European Bier Cafe
- Hotel Allen
- Mamasita
- Witchmount Estate
- Fitzy’s Waterford
- Vapiano King Street
- Monsoons
- The Hof Downtown
- The Auburn Hotel
- Browns Plains Hotel
- Bribie Island Hotel
- Mi Hi Tavern
- Coomera Lodge Hotel
- Mount Sheridan Tavern
- Morayfield Tavern
- Hope Island Tavern
- Waterloo Hotel
- Stokers Fine Pancakes
- Jubilee Tavern
- Old Bundy Tavern
- Beer Deluxe Hawthorn
- Hampstead Hotel (SA)
- State of Grace
- Vapiano Toowoomba
- Robe Hotel (SA)
- Vincent
- The Bao Project
- Trinity Beach Hotel
- Wolf Lane
- Wickham Hotel
- The Exchange Hotel
- Shenannigans
- Leichhardt Hotel
- Vapiano Toowoomba Takeaway
- The Bentley
- Wharf
- Sarah Sands
- The Royal Hotel – Nundah
- Harlow
- Serotonin Eatery
- Brighton Metro (SA)
- The Smith
- Station Hotel
- The Local
- Palm Cove Tavern
- Newmarket
- Spring Lake Hotel
- Chancellors Tavern
- Waterloo Station Hotel
- Kenmore Tavern
- LaManna Essendon Fields
- Victoria Park
- Asado Restaurant
- Vapiano Albert Lane
- Trinket
- Barron River Hotel
- BangPop
- Belles Hot Chicken Tramsheds
- Bonny View Tavern
- The Crafty Squire
- The Vincent
- Hotel HQ
- The Provincial
- Prince Alfred Richmond
- The Criterion
- Fitzys Loganholme
- Proud Mary
- Grand Junction Hotel (SA)
- Crown Hotel
- Club Hotel (Gladstone)
- Hawthorn Hotel
- Hotel Jesus
- Imperial South Yarra
- Dunwoody’s Tavern
- Studley Park Boathouse
- Imperial Hotel Bourke Street
- Piano Bar Shipped
- Diamonds Tavern Kallangur
- Western Tavern – SA
- Schnitty in a Box
- Cleveland Tavern
- Payneham Tavern (SA)
- Hope Inn Hotel (SA)
- Historian Hotel
- Kings Beach Tavern
- Buffalo Bar
- Runaway Bay Tavern
- Hofbrauhaus
- Vapiano Soul
