Buy-now-pay-later company Sezzle to delist from Australian stock market, concentrate on Nasdaq

Buy-now-pay-later company Sezzle Inc. will be solely traded on the Nasdaq stock market starting next week, the company said.

Sezzle leaders during an investor call late Wednesday announced the company plans to delist from the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX). The move — expected to become official on Monday — comes a few months after its debut on the Nasdaq market was temporarily halted.

On Wednesday, the company's stock stopped trading on ASX.

Sezzle, which is headquartered in Minneapolis, went public on ASX in 2019.

"We listed there because the investors understood our business model way earlier than U.S. investors," said Sezzle CEO Charlie Youakim. "It helped connect us with investors that believed in what we were trying to accomplish and it did help fuel the business growth over that time period."

In Australia, buy-now-pay-later shopping, where customers make installment payments on purchases from groceries to furniture, is more widely used than in the United States.

But splitting up trading between ASX and Nasdaq cost more money, made the company's liquidity weak in both markets and presented the company with competing regulations, Youakim said.

"Our entire business is here in North America," he said. "It just makes a lot of sense for us to simplify."

Sezzle opened on the Nasdaq stock exchange Aug. 17. But after its stock rose 258% in two hours, trading was halted — there were not enough common shares available because of the shares tied up with ASX.

Nasdaq allowed trading of Sezzle to resume in September. The company said the number of publicly available shares of Sezzle common stock eligible for trading in the United States has increased.

In its third quarter from July through September, Sezzle had its fifth consecutive profitable quarter, earning $1.3 million. Sezzle has grown its subscribers from nearly 190,000 at the end of July to 230,000.

This summer, Sezzle launched its Pay Anywhere subscription service that allows members to use its virtual card online or in store through its mobile app for $17.99 a month plus the cost of payments. Its premium $12.99 a month membership offers buy-now-pay-later through hundreds of vendors like DoorDash and Lowe's.

Buy-now-pay-later services are expected to become more mainstream this holiday season in the United States as shoppers look for ways to afford gifts on a budget. Adobe expects U.S. online holiday sales to reach nearly $222 billion this holiday season, about a 5% increase from last year, thanks in part to buy-now-pay-later. Buy-now-pay-later is expected to drive $17 billion in online spending, up 17% from 2022.

Sezzle and other buy-now-pay-later providers are safer and more responsible alternatives to credit cards during the holidays since customers can't continue to borrow if they don't make their payments, Youakim said.

"Our big focus during the holiday period is really making sure that we offer a responsible amount of limit to our customers," he said.