[Gatsky]

> I generally never buy anything online that I can't afford to pay for it outright so I have never used them before.

They are designed to let people buy impulsively without annoying restrictions like not having enough money. Who would have though this was either an addressable market or a good idea.

I don't get why they are so popular either, or worth this much. They also don't have any moat - any payment provider can offer to do the same thing they do with less hassle for the customer (PayPal has started doing this for example). There are many direct competitors in addition (eg Zip).

[pdog]

Isn't that what a credit card is for? Or is it somehow different?

[Gatsky]

It is interest free, and also has a repayment plan baked in. The credit card user is incentivized to pay it off each month, but the Afterpay user is incentivized to buy more stuff now.