Openpay follows Afterpay in entering the USA; shares climb

One of the few buy now pay later stocks to not have a USA presence was Openpay (ASX:OPY) – but that’s set to change.

The company announced this morning it was entering the American market. It is following in the footsteps of its larger peers Afterpay (ASX:APT), Zip (ASX:Z1P), Sezzle (ASX:SZL), Splitit (ASX:SPT) and Zebit (ASX:ZBT).

The company’s CEO Michael Eidel said its USA entry was the most significant announcement in his company’s history. Here’s why.

‘The USA market is the market’

Openpay has promoted itself in its home market as having consumers who use it as a budgeting tools for essential goods rather than millennials using it for discretionary purposes.

It has announced entering several categories its peers are not in which have excited shareholders.

Speaking with Stockhead from Arizona this morning, Openpay’s incoming USA CEO Brian Shniderman said it was a similar story in the USA.

Shnidermann, who joins after 14 years at Deloitte, declared that Openpay could grab market share where existing BNPL firms weren’t in.

“The US market is the market – it’s got a volume of more than US$5 trillion sale volume – it’s the largest consumer retail market in the world,” he said.

“And its sectors, particularly where Openpay has a particular strength – home, health, auto – it’s not a market that they have to grab share from. There’s a lot of white space and that’s what’s exciting to me.”

Shniderman revealed Openpay has discussions underway with several potential partners in the USA although it had not yet decided where to set up its American headquarters.

Examples he named of clientele that could use Openpay included patents with kids needing orthodontic treatment.

A record month in November

Openpay also reported today that November had been a record trading month.

Total Transaction Value (TTV) reached $35.7 million for November – beating the previous record by over $10 million. It’s Black Friday TTV nearly doubled from last year.

Shares rose 15 per cent this morning and is up over 50 per cent in 12 months.