Afterpay regulatory woe

Buy-now, pay-later platform in AUSTRAC talks

AFTERPAY Touch says its underlying sales rose 143 per cent in the past 11 months – but its share price is subdued after it disclosed it is in talks with regulators regarding its compliance with anti-money-laundering and terrorism financing rules.

The buy-now, pay-later company, founded by CEO Nick Molnar (pictured) said yesterday it processed $4.7 billion in the 11 months to May 31, compared to the prior underlying period. Afterpay now has 4.3 million active customers and has been adding 7900 new customers a day since December 31.

It has partnered with 30,600 active merchants, up 32 per cent from the start of the year.

But Afterpay said it had appointed a leading professional services firm to conduct a review of its anti-money-laundering/counter-terrorism financing (AML/CTF) framework.

It added external identity verification to its systems last July but said it had been contacted by the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC), the regulator that tracks financial transactions. “Although Afterpay has not identified any money laundering or terrorism financing activity via our systems to date, Afterpay is currently in dialogue with AUSTRAC regarding issues that AUSTRAC has raised regarding our AML/CTF compliance, the outcome of which is yet to be determined,” the company said.

An AUSTRAC spokesman said in an email that the agency “has been working closely, over some time, with Afterpay in relation to AML/CTF compliance issues”. Australia has a “robust” AML/CTF framework and AUSTRAC works closely with all of its reporting entities, he said.

“Stopping the movement of money to criminals and terrorists is a vital part of our national security defences and it is critical for regulated businesses in Australia to comply with the AML/CTF regime,” he said.

Afterpay said it supported new laws passed in April that give the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) the power to regulate buy-now, pay-later services.

In terms of its overseas expansion, Afterpay said that the US business it launched 13 months ago had generated $780 million for the 11 months to May 31, with 3300 merchants active and another 1100 in the process of signing up.

In the UK, Afterpay has completed a “soft test” under the Clearpay name and has 50 retailers signed up.