The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) fell by around 1.8% to 5,953 points.
Here are some of the highlights from today's ASX trading:
Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) and Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P) hit by Paypal
The share prices of Afterpay and Zip fell by 8% and 12.8% respectively today. Shareholders sold them off after payments giant Paypal announced a product called 'Pay in 4'. As you may be able to guess, it's an instalment option for consumers.
It provides an interest-free option for people to pay for things with a value of between $30 and $600.
The new service is included in the merchant's existing Paypal pricing, meaning merchants won't need to pay any additional fees to enable it for their customers.
PayPal's SVP of Global Credit, Doug Bland, said: "In today's challenging retail and economic environment, merchants are looking for trusted ways to help drive average order values and conversion, without taking on additional costs. At the same time, consumers are looking for more flexible and responsible ways to pay, especially online.
"With Pay in 4, we're building on our history as the originator in the buy now, pay later space, coupled with PayPal's trust and ubiquity, to enable a responsible and flexible way for consumers to shop while providing merchants with a tool that helps drive sales, loyalty and customer choice."
Afterpay was the worst performer in the ASX 200. But there were also heavy falls for other buy now, pay later providers. The Sezzle Inc (ASX: SZL) share price fell 14.7%, the Splitit Ltd (ASX: SPT) share price dropped 7.25% and the FlexiGroup Limited (ASX: FXL) share price declined 6.2%.
Zip finalises its acquisition
Zip announced it has completed its acquisition of QuadPay yesterday. It also issued $200 million of convertible notes and warrants today.
Zip recently released a trading update for QuadPay which included launching partnerships with Fiserv and MasterCard Vyze as well as retailers like Fanatics and Mercari.
Larry Diamond, CEO and co-founder of Zip, said: "We are thrilled to welcome QuadPay to the Zip family. The US is a critical part of our global strategy as merchants increasingly demand global payment solutions. The QuadPay business has continued to deliver strong results, driven by the flight to online and a move away from the outdated and unfair credit card. We are already working closely with the QuadPay team and expect to drive significant synergies as we come together to capitalise on the global opportunity. We are also delighted to welcome Susquehanna Investment Group onto the register and thank them for their support as we turbocharge our growth into new products and geographies."
QBE Insurance Group Ltd (ASX: QBE)
Another of the biggest drops in the ASX 200 today was QBE. The QBE share price fell 6.3% after it announced the departure of its CEO, Pat Regan.
Mr Regan is leaving after three years in the role. This came after the outcome of an external investigation about workplace communications that the board concluded did not meet the standards of the company.
QBE chair Mike Wilkins said: "We are committed to having a respectively and inclusive environment for everyone at QBE. The Board concluded that he had exercised poor judgement in this regard.
"While these are challenging circumstances the Board recognises and thanks Mr Regan for his hard work and contribution to strengthening QBE. However, all employees must be held to the same standards."
Mr Wilkins will assume the role of executive chair, taking on the day-to-day oversight of QBE. A search for a new CEO is underway.
The executive chair said that the fundamentals of QBE are strong and it continues to invest in its data and digital capabilities. He also said that the external pricing environment has greatly improved for QBE.
