Sezzle vs Afterpay for US merchants

Overview

This is a US comparison of two buy-now-pay-later networks that do the same job for a merchant: the shopper splits the purchase into instalments, the merchant is paid up front for the whole order less a commission, and the provider carries the fraud and repayment risk. Neither publishes that commission. Sezzle's merchant support says only that a set percentage plus a small processing fee applies and that the figures are in the agreement you sign; Afterpay's business page promises simple, transparent pricing and prints no price. Where they part company is everything around the commission. Sezzle now publishes its ancillary fees and two of the amounts - a $15 monthly minimum below $300 of order volume, a refund fee (amount unstated) when a refund cannot be drawn from your refund reserve, and a monthly inactive-account fee of 10% of the balance or $1,000, whichever is greater, on dormant accounts holding funds - and documents a common three-business-day settlement. Afterpay publishes none of that, assigns each merchant a settlement period of one to five business days in its agreement, but is owned by Block, is native to Square and Cash App, serves five countries under one brand, and its Pay in 4 is interest-free with no fees for the shopper at partner brands, where Sezzle's Pay in 4 can now carry a service fee shown at checkout. Payment Review grades Sezzle B- and Afterpay B.

Key Takeaways

• ✓Neither publishes its merchant commission; Sezzle's support pages say it is a set percentage plus a small processing fee set in your agreement, and Afterpay prints no figure at all, so both are a sales conversation before they are a price.
• ✓Sezzle publishes its ancillary fees and two of the amounts - a $15 monthly minimum below $300 of volume, a refund fee outside the refund reserve, and an inactive-account fee of the greater of 10% of balance or $1,000 - where Afterpay publishes no monthly fee and no ancillary schedule.
• ✓Afterpay is cheaper for the shopper: Pay in 4 is interest-free with no fees when paid on time at partner brands, whereas Sezzle's Pay in 4 can carry a service fee shown at checkout, illustrated on its own site as $7.49 on a $300 order.
• ✓Afterpay is native to Square and Cash App and serves the US, Australia, New Zealand, the UK and Canada under one brand; Sezzle's shoppers are US and Canadian, and its in-store product needs a qualifying US merchant.
• ✓Sezzle documents a common settlement period of three business days; Afterpay's marketing says one to two, while its merchant help centre says a period between one and five business days is assigned in your agreement.