The Afterpay Touch Group Ltd (ASX: APT) share price could get a bump today after the buy-now-pay-later business appointed Larry Summers to its U.S. advisory board that also includes Uli Becker, former CEO of Reebok, and Matthew A. Kaness, former president and CEO of ModCloth.
The powerful Mr Summers is a former U.S. treasury secretary and well connected in the regulatory, capital markets, corporate advisory, and commercial partnerships space.
As an Aussie start-up looking to grow into a complex U.S. market Afterpay's advisory board is important in helping it to potentially raise capital in the U.S. down the line, or avoid regulatory mishaps in a complex market.
It has delivered some incredible growth rates in the U.S. and already has over 6,500 retailers signed up in the country including household names like Ray Ban, O'Neill, Levi's, Urban Outfitters and Skechers.
Globally it has 30,000 retailers signed up serving some 5.2 million customers.
It reported that it signed up around 12,500 shoppers a day over August 2019 and these kind of breakneck growth rates are hard for investors on the S&P/ ASX200 (ASX: XJO) to ignore.
It also has plenty of opportunity to expand horizontally into the services sector for example by letting consumers "Afterpay" flights, dental visits, dinners out, etc, over time.
Its lack of a moat is no secret as competitors could undercut the fees it charges merchants, but there have been plenty of businesses that delivered blockbuster success without any real moat.
Given its growth rates, I expect to see the stock move higher over time.
