More than 650,000 Australians signed up in just 3 weeks for Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT)'s new contactless Mastercard (NYSE: MA).
The buy now, pay later provider revealed the rapid take-up during its quarterly business update to the ASX on Tuesday morning.
Named Afterpay Card, the concept installs a virtual Mastercard in Google Pay or Apple Wallet. That enables users to just make a contactless swipe to purchase an item through Afterpay's instalment scheme — the same as using a credit card.
The service was first launched in the US, where 3.5 million people had already set it up by the end of last month. Afterpay Card was then released in Australia on 28 March.
"In the first three weeks of April, more than 650,000 Australian customers have set up their Afterpay Card," stated the company.
"In-store [activity] is expected to further accelerate following the launch of the Afterpay Card in Australia."
Afterpay shares are down 0.72% on Tuesday afternoon, to trade at $125.29. They were $29 exactly a year ago.
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Afterpay bank accounts coming soon
Afterpay Money is a smartphone app that will offer transaction and savings bank accounts to complement the company's buy now, pay later service.
While the fintech doesn't own a banking licence, it was the first partner to sign on to Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC)'s banking-as-a-service platform last October.
The quarterly update suggested that the planned launch of Afterpay Money in the second half of this calendar year was on track.
"An internal pilot team is currently working on a skeleton app in production with functioning deposit and savings accounts, with iterative prototype testing continuing with customers ahead of launch."
Afterpay had a smooth quarter ending 31 March, increasing year-on-year underlying sales in all regions to the tune of 104%.
Active user numbers were up 75% from a year ago, to go from 8.4 million to now 14.6 million. North America is now the biggest contributor to underlying sales, overtaking the business' country of origin.
The company's European brand Clearpay was launched in Spain, France and Italy during the quarter.
