Twitter's Dorsey leads €24bn buyout of lending pioneer Afterpay

The takeover underscores the popularity of the buy now, pay later sector

Jack Dorsey: "Afterpay has built a trusted brand."

Square, the payments firm of Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, will purchase buy now, pay later pioneer Afterpay for $29bn (€24.4bn), creating a global transactions giant through its biggest-ever acquisition.

The takeover, also the biggest buyout of an Australian firm, underscores the popularity of a business model that has upended consumer credit by charging merchants a fee to offer small point-of-sale loans which their shoppers repay in interest-free instalments, bypassing credit checks.