Square to buy Afterpay for $29 billion as buy now, pay later booms

FILE PHOTO: A logo for the company Afterpay is seen in a store window in Sydney, Australia, July 9, 2020. REUTERS/Stephen Coates

(Reuters) -Square Inc will purchase buy now, pay later (BNPL) firm Afterpay Ltd for about $29 billion in Australia's biggest-ever buyout, creating an online payments giant to tap into explosive growth in the niche payments sector.

Afterpay has been the bellwether of the niche online payments sector which burst into the mainstream last year as more people, especially youngsters, chose to pay in instalments for everyday items during the pandemic.