The way we pay for things continues to evolve. That goes for consumer buying habits among gen-z and others, as well as the ways that payments are being democratized. The latter has lots of implications for empowering SMBs to accept payments in a variety of low-friction ways.

Key Takeaways

Here are a few key messages or insights that we gleaned from this session.

• When looking at all the transformation in payments over the past decade, one of the catalysts has been Square.
• That started with an iPhone dongle that let anyone – from individuals to food trucks – to accept credit card payments.
• Now Square has evolved into other parts of the payment stack, including its Cash app, a Venmo-like value proposition for peer-to-peer and SMB payments
• Square’s latest conquest is a BNPL play in its Afterpay product. This is yet another product to cast a wide net to be there as a go-to payment option for consumers.
• Despite lots of flak in the overall category, BNPL is doing just fine, and Afterpay currently sees a default rate less than one percent.
• Back to SMBs, 50 percent of Square’s merchants are selling both online and in person (Covid-driven). This offers Square an environment to offer a one-stop shop payment platform for SMBs.
• In doing so, Square still has plenty of growth headroom given overall SMB growth expected, plus market share gains it can make in replacing legacy solutions with its low-friction approach.

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The Future of Alternative Payments

Alternative payments” is the growing body of payment methodologies that help consumers make purchases without using revolving credit and help merchants (online and offline) make sales they might not make otherwise. This includes Buy Now, Pay Later, and emerging alternatives like Save Now, Buy Later. This session explores the state of play in alternative payments and other key fintech trends with an industry leader.

Mike Cohen, Square