Afterpay shutters its Westpac-powered Money app

Australian fintech Afterpay has announced that it will be closing down its Money app in October just a year after launching, saying that the firm’s acquisition by Jack Dorsey’s Block “means our focus is shifting in a new direction”.

Money by Afterpay to close down

The fintech firm’s Money accounts and debit cards were launched in partnership with Australian banking giant Westpac. Afterpay signed up as the first user of Westpac’s banking-as-a-service (BaaS) platform in October 2020. With the closure of Money, the partnership has now come to an end.

Afterpay has said on its website that it will not be taking new customers from today, and customers will not have access to their Money accounts from 10 October 2022.

As part of the closure process, Afterpay has directed its users to move all funds out of their accounts, setting a daily AUD 10,000 limit on payments, which the company says can be increased on request.

It has also asked users to remove their Money cards from their Afterpay buy now, pay later (BNPL) accounts to “avoid failed repayments”.

Block, which acquired Afterpay in January this year for $29 billion, intends to launch its own Cash App in Australia following Money’s withdrawal from the market.