Gennaro Cuofano's Blog, page 101
April 14, 2022
How Does Afterpay Make Money? The Afterpay Business Model In A Nutshell


Afterpay is a FinTech company providing as a core service the “buy now pay later” solution. When a consumer purchases a product, Afterpay pays the seller and asks the consumer to pay 25%. The remaining 75% is paid in three, fortnightly installments that are also interest-free. Afterpay, in turn, makes money via merchant and late fees.
Origin StoryAfterpay is an Australian financial technology with an additional presence in the UK, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States.
It was founded in 2015 by Nick Molnar and his former neighbor Anthony Eisen. Molnar was a young entrepreneur who was selling the excess stock from his parents’ jewelry business on eBay. As he worked late into the night packing inventory for shipping, he caught the attention of Eisen and the two quickly became friends.
At some point, they began to discuss the possibility of a company that removed the risk out of a typical retail experience for both the buyer and seller. From there, the idea for Afterpay was born. When a consumer purchases a product, Afterpay pays the seller and asks the consumer to pay 25%. The remaining 75% is paid in three, fortnightly installments that are also interest-free.
After initial success in Australia, Afterpay now has over 11 million users across the world.
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Afterpay revenue generationIn effect, Afterpay lends 75% of the total purchase price to consumers. But it is not a lender or credit provider in the traditional sense and does not generate revenue through interest fees.
Instead, it makes money in different ways.
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Merchant feesFor every transaction facilitated by Afterpay, the merchant must pay the company a fee.
This fee is 30 cents plus a variable fee of anywhere between 4-6% and comprises the bulk of Afterpay revenue. The exact fee is dependent on the value and volume of all transactions. Merchants that sell more or sell higher-priced items are charged a fee at the lower end of the spectrum.
It should be noted that the merchant is free to sell its products without Afterpay. However, Afterpay claims that providing an installment option increases the average order value by as much as 20%. It also increases the buyer conversion rate.
Afterpay also likely charges a merchant fee to mitigate the risk it takes on a customer defaulting on their payments.
Late feesLate payment fees are also collected by Afterpay when a consumer fails to make a scheduled payment on time.
The initial late fee is $10. A further $7 will be charged if the fortnightly payment remains unpaid for seven days past the initial due date.
Orders below $40 are capped at the single, initial late fee of $10. For orders above $40, the late fee is capped at 25% of the original order value or $68 – whichever is less.
Key takeaways:Afterpay is an Australian financial technology company with a presence in most developed, western economies. It was founded by entrepreneurs Nick Molnar and Anthony Eisen who imagined a retail industry free of risk for the buyer and seller.Afterpay is not a lender in the traditional sense and as a result, does not collect interest fees. However, it does charge merchants a fee for facilitating payments on their behalf.Afterpay also charges consumers a late fee based on the value of the original order and how long each repayment remains unpaid.Read Next: How Does PayPal Business Model
Other FinTech CompaniesAcorns













SoFi

Squarespace



Wealthfront

Zelle

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April 13, 2022
How Does Klarna Make Money? Klarna Business Model In A Nutshell


Klarna is a financial technology company allowing consumers to shop with a temporary Visa card. Thus it then performs a soft credit check and pays the merchant. Klarna makes money by charging merchants. Klarna also earns a percentage of interchange fees as a commission and for interests earned on customers’ accounts.
Origin storyKlarna is a financial technology company founded in Stockholm in 2005.
The company is perhaps best known for its buy now, pay later (BNPL) service. This enables consumers to purchase a product with no upfront cost. Instead, the product is paid off over four interest-free installments over a predetermined period. For larger purchases, Klarna users can finance their purchases over 3 years.
To onboard customers, Klarna allows consumers to shop with a temporary Visa card number known as a “ghost card”. That is, the customer does not need to provide payment details to the merchant when making a purchase. Klarna then performs a soft credit check on the card number ID and pays the merchant. Lastly, the consumer receives the product and an invoice from Klarna with payment instructions.
Klarna mission and visionKlarna’s mission is to “make paying as simple, safe and smooth as possible.“
While Klarna’s vision is to “transfer the power from the large corporations to the consumer and empower consumers to make fast and informed decisions.”
Klarna revenue generationTo drive revenue, Klarna very much relies on charging the merchant as opposed to the consumer.
Let’s take a look at some of the primary revenue drivers of Klarna.
Payment feesThe majority of Klarna’s revenue is derived from a merchant transaction and variable percentage fee. These fees fluctuate according to the payment method and country of origin of the customer. In the United States, for example, merchants must pay Klarna a 30 cent transaction fee on top of a variable fee between 3.29-5.99%.
Payment fees are also generated when customers:
Want to check out with a few clicks. Known as the Instant Shopping feature, Klarna charges merchants a $30 monthly product fee with a fixed $0.30 transaction fee. Merchants are also hit with a 3.29% fee for onsite transactions and a 3.79% fee for offsite transactions.Want to pay in four installments. In this case, Klarna charges the same $0.30 transaction fee combined with variable fees as high as 5.99%.Want to pay monthly. Here, Klarna takes a $0.30 fixed transaction fee and 3.29% in variable fees. Customers will also be charged interest throughout the loan, with annual percentage rates as high as 29.99%.Fail to pay by the specified date. Late fees are charged monthly and can top $35.Interchange feesKlarna recently launched a bank account facility with the issuance of a free debit card to users in collaboration with Visa.
When a consumer makes an eligible purchase, an interchange fee (typically around 1%) is paid by the merchant to the card issuer. Klarna then takes a portion of the interchange fee in exchange for promoting Visa as a service to its customer base.
Cash interestWith the aforementioned bank account facility, Klarna earns money on the cash in those accounts by lending it out to other institutions.
Klarna vs Affirm vs AfterpayKlarna, Affirm, and Afterpay are all buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) providers that allow consumers to purchase goods and services and then pay them off with micro-installments over a set period.
While a new market entrant in this industry feels like a daily occurrence, Klarna, Affirm, and Afterpay represent some of the largest and most popular BNPL providers in 2022. In this article, we’ll compare and contrast aspects of their respective businesses to enable consumers and merchants to choose the one that best suits their needs.
Credit approvalLittle separates the three companies in terms of credit approvals, which many critics argue is a serious deficiency of the BNPL concept in any case.
Each app combines typical “soft” information such as salary and credit history with insights gleaned from machine learning and a user’s social media activity. For consumers, this means there is little appreciable difference between providers in terms of whether their application is accepted or rejected.
Interest and late feesWhere there are differences, however, is in the way payments and fees are charged.
For customers of Klarna and Afterpay, the “loan” that allows them to purchase products without having the funds to do so comes with no interest fees. Affirm will collect interest fees if the consumer chooses the monthly installment option instead of the typical fortnightly plan.
In terms of late fees, Affirm does not charge them while the fee is $7 for Klarna and $8 for Afterpay. Instead of a monetary penalty, Affirm will block its customers from being able to make additional purchases. Note that these are fees for North American customers and will vary by country.
Payment schedulingAfterpay users must pay 25% of the total purchase price upfront and split the remaining 75% with payments over the next three fortnights (six weeks).
Affirm is a more lenient, allowing customers to spread their payments out over up to three years. This makes it better suited to high-ticket items or for those who simply want a simple, long-term payment solution not unlike a traditional loan.
Klarna, on the other hand, offers terms similar to those of Afterpay when it was first launched. That is, four payments split over two months or eight weeks.
Merchant fees and featuresMerchants that want to include Afterpay as a payment option pay a commission rate of 4-6% of the transaction plus 30 cents. The exact fee is based on a negotiated amount between the merchant and Afterpay. Note also that merchants are not paid until the customer has received their items in the mail.
Affirm merchants are paid within 1-3 business days of the purchase and the company provides more flexibility with respect to the payment terms that are offered to consumers. Affirm also charges a commission and while the exact rate is undisclosed, most estimates suggest it is around 3%.
Klarna’s merchant fee structure is comparable to those offered by Afterpay. There is a 30-cent transaction fee plus a variable fee of between 3.29% to 5.99%. Unlike Afterpay, however, Klarna pays the merchant upfront and assumes the customer’s credit risk. It also offers merchants a diverse range of payment options, including direct checkout and even loan financing.
Summarizing the key differences between Klarna, Affirm and AfterpayKlarna, Affirm, and Afterpay represent some of the largest and most popular BNPL providers in 2022, but there are subtle differences in their business models.Klarna and Afterpay charge no interest fees provided the customer makes their payments on time, while Affirm will collect interest fees if a buyer chooses the monthly payment plan. Late fees are also charged by Klarna and Afterpay for missed payments. Affirm, on the other hand, simply chooses to ban customers from making additional purchases.In terms of payment scheduling, Afterpay asks for 25% of the total purchase price upfront with the remainder to be paid across three fortnights. Klarna has a similar schedule with payments spread out after eight weeks instead of six. Affirm allows consumers to spread their payments out over as many as three years. As a result, it tends to be more suitable for more significant purchases.Key takeaways:Klarna is a Swedish financial technology company founded in 2005. The company is known for its innovative payment services, including BNPL functionality and other flexible arrangements.Klarna makes its money by charging the merchant and not the consumer. The company only makes money from the customer when they elect to spread out the cost of a purchase over multiple months.In addition to typical payment and transaction fees, Klarna also earns a percentage of interchange fees as a commission. They also derive income from the cash sitting in the accounts of their customers.Connected Business ModelsAfterpay Business Model





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Apple Financials
iPod touch and accessories$38.36B10.49%Services (Company’s advertising, AppleCare, cloud, digital content, payment, and other
services)$68.42B18.70%Total$365.81Bin 2021, Apple generated over $365 billion in revenues, of which $191.9 billion was from iPhone sales, representing 52.5% of the total revenues. Mac generated $35.19 billion, while iPad sales generated $35.86 billion. Wearables and accessories generated over $38.36 billion. And Services generated over $68 billion. Thus, most of Apple’s revenues still come from the iPhone and services revenue stream, built on top of the company’s products is the second revenue stream, representing 18.7% of the total revenues. 2021Products$297.39BServices$68.42BTotal Revenues$365.81BOf the $365.81 billion revenues, $297 came from products, and $68.4 came from services. Gross Margins Products$105.12BGross Margin Products %35.35%Gross Margins Services$47.7BGross Margins Services %69.73%To understand Apple’s profitability, at the operating level, Gross margins for products were $105.12 billion, at a 35% gross margin percentage. While gross margins for services were $47.7 billion, or 69.7% gross margin percentage. Therefore, while the company’s success is built on top of successful products, the company also monetizes these products through services (like AppleCare), which run at much wider margins, compared to products revenues. 2021Americas$153.3BEurope$89.3BGreater China$68.36BJapan$28.48BRest of Asia Pacific$26.35BTotal$365.81BMost of Appel’s revenues come from the Americas, Europe, Greater China, and Japan.
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Tesla Financials
September 30, 2009, prior to the IPOElon Musk becomes CEO2008Total Revenues in 2021$53.8 BillionEmployees99,290 full-time subsidiaries’ employees worldwideRevenues per Employee$542,079.00Who owns Tesla?Elon Musk is the primary individual shareholder, with 23.1% of the company’s sharesFounded on July 1, 2003, in San Carlos, CA, by Elon Musk, Martin Eberhard, JB Straubel, Marc Tarpenning, and Ian Wright, Tesla’s initial main investors comprised Elon Musk. By 2006 Elon Musk was appointed CEO back in 2008, and they remained CEO these days. Tesla IPOed on June 29, 2010, at a $17 price per share, and it recorded $93.35 million, as of Nine Months Ended, September 30, 2009, prior to the IPO. In 2021, Tesla generated $53.8 billion in revenue, with 99,290 full-time subsidiaries’ employees, generating $542,079.00 per employee. Elon Musk is the primary individual shareholder, with 23.1% of the company’s shares, making his net worth north of $200 billion dollars.






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Robinhood Revenues Breakdown



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Facebook Ad Revenue
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Netflix Revenue Breakdown
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How much money does Google make from advertising?
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Amazon Growth Chart 2015-2021


In 2021, Online Stores generated $222B, while physical stores generated $17B. Third-party seller services generated $103.3B, subscription services generated $31.76B, while the cloud service, AWS generated $62.2B. Amazon advertising generated $31.16B. Online stores have grown from over $78 billion in 2015 to over $222 billion in 2021. Third-party seller services have grown from $16 billion in 2015 to over $103 billion in 2021.


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Airbnb Revenues
Y Combinator, on January 2009Year of IPODecember 10, 2020IPO Price$146.00Total Revenues at IPO$2.5 billion as of Nine Months Ended on September 30, prior to the IPOAirbnb Employees6,132 employees in 27 cities around the worldRevenues per Employee$977,129.81Founded by Brian Chesky, Nathan Blecharczyk, and Joe Gebbia, in August 2008, in San Francisco, CA, Airbnb’s first investor was Y Combinator, in January 2009. The company IPOed on December 10, 2020, at a $146 share price. At IPO the company generated $2.5 billion as of Nine Months Ended on September 30, prior to the IPO, with 6,132 employees, thus $977,129.81 per employee.

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