(Reuters) – Australian buy-now-pay-later firm Openpay Group Ltd said on Friday it will “indefinitely” pause its United States operations and “materially” reduce its workforce, citing adverse macroeconomic and public market conditions.
The development comes eight months after the Melbourne-based company went live in the United States, with expectations of the country becoming one of its biggest markets. (https://bit.ly/3y7T0an)
BNPL stocks across the globe have been battered over the past few months due to rising interest rates and heightened regulatory scrutiny, with tech giant Apple Inc’s entry into the market further hurting smaller players.
“This decision to shift our approach in the U.S. was not taken lightly but will now allow even greater focus on Openpay’s Australian business,” Openpay’s Australia Chief Executive Dion Appel said. (https://bit.ly/3uh1D1b)
Australia accounted for 68% of Openpay’s total transaction value of A$339 million ($233.81 million) in fiscal 2021. (https://bit.ly/3bBV6rw)
($1 = 1.4499 Australian dollars)
(Reporting by Sameer Manekar in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)
