Australian Fintech Openpay Is the First Buy-Now-Pay-Later (Bnpl) Service to Fail as the Tech Meltdown Continues to Wreak Havoc.

On Monday, the BNPL provider told the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) that it had filed for bankruptcy.

It was followed by OpenPay halting trading on Wednesday, a sign that the company was on the brink of collapse.

Barry Kogan, Jonathan Henry and Robert Smith, the bankruptcy trustees of insolvent firm McGrathNicol, have terminated the deal, although the client is still required to amortise the debt. No new purchases can be made through the platform.

Its collapse could wipe out dozens of Australian retailers, as recipients have yet to confirm whether the stores providing the service will get their money back. OpenPay is available for many different retailers, including Bunnings, Bupa Dental, Glue Store, and Kogan.com.

OpenPay paused at 20 cents per share. Sezzle, one of BNPL’s major players, fell 2.99% to 65 cents per share yesterday, while rival company Zip was down 2.22% to 66 cents per share at the time of writing. OpenPay was recently valued at $45.4 million, while Zip was valued at $512.8 million and Afterpay was valued at $14.8 billion. This is an epic sin for OpenPay Store and the entire BNPL industry said eToro market analyst Josh Gilbert.

Among investors, the BNPL industry has gone from ‘hero to zero’,  he said.

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As inflation rose and interest rates soared, stock prices plummeted. Disruptive technologies in particular have felt the full force of liquidity in financial markets over the past two years as investors fled risky assets.

As competition intensifies and regulation intensifies – Australia’s buy now, pay later company Openpay collapses

Other companies have also collapsed, leaving the Australian public stunned, including Australian subsidiary Deliveroo, a neobank called Volt Bank, food delivery company Send, and Order, a Melbourne-based e-sports company despite raising $5.3 million in funding. USD, while AI platform Metigy, was liquidated for $32 million. Keep Visiting Pay Later Alligator for more updates. 

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