Awareness of buy-now-pay-later services Afterpay and Zip soars to over 12.3 million Australians
The latest Roy Morgan Digital Payments Report shows over 12.3 million Australians (59%) are now aware of buy-now-pay-later services such as Afterpay and Zip – up 22.1% points in only 18 months.
Afterpay is the clear market leader with a majority of 55.8% of Australians aware of the service in the year to March 2020, up by 22% points since September 2018.
Main rival Zip is also making a significant impression on the Australian marketplace with over a third of Australians (35.2%) now aware of Zip – almost doubling awareness of the service in only 18 months.
The rising awareness of buy-now-pay-later services comes as the share prices of Afterpay, Zip and smaller rivals has soared during the COVID-19 induced shut-downs. The Afterpay share price increased by over 500% since a low of only $8 in late March and the share price of Zip was up over 50% last week alone.
The COVID-19 pandemic hit Australians hard in mid-March as shutdowns were enforced across the country however as the economy is progressively re-opened there are signs the impact on our way of life will provide an enduring benefit to some businesses says Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine:
“Nearly three-fifths (59%) of Australians are aware of buy-now-pay-later services such as Afterpay and Zip and over one-in-ten (10.9%) now use these services. Digital payment services have gained prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic as personal hygiene practices, such as the way we handle money and pay for goods and services, have been put in the spotlight.
“Afterpay and Zip are the clear market leaders for buy-now-pay-later services but their early success in Australia has attracted newer rivals. Newer local rivals include OpenPay, Splitit Payments and Flexigroup which all offer buy-now-pay-later services and indicate the increasingly competitive nature of the market.
“Australians aged 25-34 have been the quickest to take to the buy-now-pay-later services with around one-in-five in this age group using these new digital payment systems. However, there are key differences between the two market leaders as Zip’s customer base skews slightly older and their second strongest age group is those aged 35-49 whereas for Afterpay it is the under 25 market.
“There are other significant differences between the types of customers both services attract that are drawn out more fully in the Digital Payments Report. The report provides a detailed and in-depth understanding of the Australians using not only buy-now-pay-later services but also bill payment services, online payment platforms, contactless/cardless mobile payments and wearable payment devices.”
These new digital payment findings are from Roy Morgan Single Source, Australia’s leading consumer survey, compiled by comprehensive interviews with a sample of over 1,000 Australians each week.
Buy-now-pay-later payments awareness trends: 2018-2020
Source: Roy Morgan Single Source Australia, 12 month moving average, Average sample = 50,250. Base: Australians 14+.
View the Digital Payment Solutions Report.
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Margin of Error
The margin of error to be allowed for in any estimate depends mainly on the number of interviews on which it is based. Margin of error gives indications of the likely range within which estimates would be 95% likely to fall, expressed as the number of percentage points above or below the actual estimate. Allowance for design effects (such as stratification and weighting) should be made as appropriate.
| Sample Size | Percentage Estimate |
| 40% – 60% | 25% or 75% | 10% or 90% | 5% or 95% | |
| 1,000 | ±3.0 | ±2.7 | ±1.9 | ±1.3 |
| 5,000 | ±1.4 | ±1.2 | ±0.8 | ±0.6 |
| 7,500 | ±1.1 | ±1.0 | ±0.7 | ±0.5 |
| 10,000 | ±1.0 | ±0.9 | ±0.6 | ±0.4 |
| 20,000 | ±0.7 | ±0.6 | ±0.4 | ±0.3 |
| 50,000 | ±0.4 | ±0.4 | ±0.3 | ±0.2 |
