You can't really digest what's happening because a lot has happened very fast.

你無法真正消化正在發生的事情，因為很多事情發生得非常快。

The 30-year-old is credited with reinventing the spending habits of millions of millennials,

這位30歲的年輕人被認為重塑了數百萬千禧一代的消費習慣。

earning a spot on his country's young rich list in the process.

在這個過程中，他在本國的年輕富豪榜上獲得了一席之地。

My co-founder and I made a rule very early on that we wouldn't watch the share price.

我和我的聯合創始人很早就定下規矩，不看股價。

And now, as the pandemic supercharges his payments business,

而現在，隨著疫情對他的支付業務的超。

its soaring stock price has shot him to billionaire status.

其飆升的股價讓他一躍成為億萬富翁。

My wife always says just don't look down.

我妻子總是說不要往下看就行了。

Nick is the co-founder and co-CEO of Afterpay, a “buy now, pay later” platform that allows

Nick是Afterpay的聯合創始人和聯合CEO，Afterpay是一個 "先買後付 "的平臺，它允許

users to stagger the cost of their purchases over regular, interest-free installments.

用戶可以在定期的免息分期付款中錯開購買的費用。

Here's how it works: Say I want to buy these $200 trainers,

下面是它的工作原理。假設我想買這些200美元的訓練鞋。

but don't want to part with all the cash upfront.

但又不想把所有的現金都預付掉。

I can make an initial payment of $50, followed by $50 every two weeks

我可以先付50元，然後每兩週付50元。

until the full cost is paid off.

直到付清全部費用。

If I miss a repayment, I'll be charged a late fee and blocked from the platform until

如果我錯過了還款，就會被收取滯納金，並被平臺屏蔽，直到

my payments are up to date.

我的付款是最新的。

We pay the retailer the next day and then we assume all the risk, so it's our responsibility

我們第二天就把錢付給零售商，然後我們承擔所有的風險，所以這是我們的責任。

to recover the funds from the customer on the due date.

以便在到期日向客戶收回資金。

The business was born here in Australia back in 2014 and in just six years has turned into

這家企業早在2014年就在澳洲誕生，短短6年時間就變成了。

a multibillion-dollar public company.

一個價值數十億美元的上市公司。

It now has more than 11 million active users and almost 64,000 merchants.

目前已擁有1100多萬活躍用戶和近6.4萬家商戶。

From a little idea ... it's been amazing to see it really catch on.

從一個小小的想法......看到它真正流行起來，真是太神奇了。

Nick, a commerce graduate from the University of Sydney,

尼克，悉尼大學商科畢業生。

noticed that young people's spending habits were changing.

注意到年輕人的消費習慣正在改變。

His theory?

他的理論？

That young people are growing skeptical of traditional financial products,

年輕人對傳統金融產品越來越懷疑。

like credit cards, which can lead to spiraling debts.

如信用卡，這可能導致債務螺旋式上升。

So Nick teamed up with co-founder Anthony Eisen, an investment officer, 18 years his senior,

於是Nick與聯合創始人Anthony Eisen合作，Anthony Eisen是一名投資官，比他大18歲。

to create a millennial-friendly alternative for deferred payments.

以創造一個適合千禧一代的延期付款選擇。

I actually started Afterpay with my neighbor.

其實我和我的鄰居開始Afterpay。

Anthony and I got to know each other and we started speaking about this trend

安東尼和我開始瞭解對方 我們開始談論這個趨勢。

that I'd seen growing up in the 2008 Financial Crisis.

我在2008年金融危機中看到的成長。

So, becoming an adult during that period of time was pretty telling when you saw parents,

所以，在那段時間裡成為大人，看到父母的時候，很能說明問題。

or friends of parents, lose their jobs.

或父母的朋友，失去工作。

And essentially, the millennial cohort as a whole said I prefer to spend my own money,

而基本上，千禧一代的群體整體上說，我更喜歡花自己的錢。

I'd prefer to spend on a debit card as compared to a credit card.

與信用卡相比，我更願意用借記卡消費。

According to a survey, just one in three adults aged 18 to 29 owned a credit card.

根據一項調查，18至29歲的成年人中，只有三分之一的人擁有信用卡。

That compares to more than half of 30 to 49-year-olds

而在30至49歲的人群中，有一半以上的人是這樣的。

and around two-thirds of those aged 50 and above.

和約三分之二的50歲及以上的人。

After launching in late 2014, the business saw quick growth.

2014年年底推出後，業務得到快速發展。

Cash-tight consumers liked the four equal installments model, while retailers,

現金緊張的消費者喜歡四等分的模式，而零售商。

keen to boost sales, were happy to pay a small commission to get on the platform.

熱衷於提升銷量，樂於支付少量佣金上平臺。

Our thought process was, how do you turn this completely on its head.

我們的思路是，如何將這個問題完全顛覆。

Where, rather than charging the consumer, you charge the retailer a small fee.

在那裡，你不是向消費者收費，而是向零售商收取少量費用。

Within two years, Afterpay managed to raise $18 million on the Australian Securities Exchange

兩年內，Afterpay在澳洲證券交易所成功融資1800萬美元。

in a heavily oversubscribed initial public offering.

在首次公開募股中獲得大量超額認購。

Even the Kardashian sisters are fans.

連卡戴珊姐妹都是粉絲。

An endorsement from Kim Kardashian on her social media accounts in 2018 to her millions of followers,

2018年，金-卡戴珊在其社交媒體賬號上對其百萬粉絲的一次代言。

boosted the company's international profile among millennials and Gen Z.

提升了公司在千禧一代和Z世代中的國際形象。

Her sister's cosmetic brand, Kylie Skin, is now one of thousands of major retailers,

她姐姐的化妝品品牌Kylie Skin，現在已經成為數千家大型零售商之一。

including Lululemon and Adidas, that have piled onto the platform as consumer habits evolve.

包括Lululemon和阿迪達斯，隨著消費者習慣的演變，紛紛扎堆進入平臺。

During the spring lockdowns, Visa credit card transactions in the U.S.

春節鎖國期間，Visa信用卡在美國的交易。

fell by more than 30% year-on-year.

同比下降30%以上。

While debit card transactions also plunged in the same period, they recovered quickly in May,

雖然同期借記卡交易量也大幅下滑，但在5月份迅速恢復。

as consumers piled on retail and home improvement goods during their stay indoors.

因為消費者在室內停留期間，堆積了零售和家裝商品。

If you look at what's transpiring in the current pandemic, similar to what we saw in

如果你看一下目前的大流行中發生的事情，類似於我們所看到的。

the 2008 Financial Crisis, there's this distinct shift away from credit to debit cards.

2008年的金融危機，有這種明顯的轉變 從信用卡到借記卡。

That has also supercharged Afterpay's growth.

這也給Afterpay的發展帶來了超強的動力。

After dropping to A$8 in March 2020, the share price was up 1,300%

在2020年3月跌至8澳元后，股價上漲1300%。

to hit a high of A$105 in November.

以在11月創下105澳元的高點。

Meanwhile in May, Chinese tech giant Tencent paid more than $200 million

同時在5月份，中國科技巨頭騰訊支付了超過2億美元的費用

for a 5% stake in the company.

為公司5%的股權。

That has made Afterpay one of the hottest stocks in Australia and catapulted

這使得Afterpay成為澳洲最熱門的股票之一，並使其成為澳洲最熱門的股票之一。

both Nick and Anthony – who each own 7% stakes – to billionaire status.

尼克和安東尼--他們各自擁有7%的股份--都成為億萬富翁。

Sometimes the share price goes up or goes down.

有時股價會漲，也會跌。

I don't think it means we're any better or worse business over those periods of time.

我認為這並不意味著我們在這段時間內的生意會更好或更差。

Morgan Stanley is now predicting the stock could hit A$120 by the end of 2020.

摩根士丹利現在預測，到2020年底，該股可能會達到120澳元。

Afterpay's rapid growth hasn't been entirely well-received, though.

不過Afterpay的快速發展並沒有完全得到好評。

Critics have argued that the platform encourages excessive and unsustainable consumer spending.

批評者認為，該平臺鼓勵過度和不可持續的消費支出。

Currently, buy now, pay later platforms such as Afterpay, Affirm and Klarna

目前，現買現付的平臺有Afterpay、Affirm和Klarna等。

fall outside of consumer credit laws in most countries.

在大多數國家，不屬於消費信貸法的範圍。

Hianyang Chan, a Sydney-based senior consultant at market research firm Euromonitor, told me more.

市場研究公司Euromonitor駐雪梨的高級顧問陳曉陽告訴我更多。

In one angle, we can position it as how buy now, pay later platforms allow consumers to

從一個角度來說，我們可以將其定位為現買現付的平臺如何讓消費者能夠

be more conscious and cautious about their spending.

更加自覺和謹慎地消費。

But at the same time, it can also be seen in another manner where, because of the lack

但同時，也可以從另一個方面來看，由於缺乏。

of regulations, it might also put vulnerable people in a position where they might be spending

規章制度，也可能會使弱勢人群處於一個他們可能會花錢的位置。

more than what they actually have.

比他們實際擁有的更多。

Afterpay reports that 90% of its transactions are paid on time.

Afterpay報告稱，其90%的交易都能按時支付。

Overall, late fees accounted for less than 14% of the company's total income in 2020,

總體來看，2020年，逾期費佔公司總收入的比例不到14%。

with the remainder coming from merchant fees – the 4 to 6% commission it charges retailers.

其餘部分來自於商家費用--它向零售商收取的4-6%的佣金。

The most important point about our business that many aren't too familiar with is that,

我們企業最重要的一點，很多人都不太瞭解。

the moment someone goes late on one installment payment,

逾期不還款的那一刻；

they can't keep shopping until they pay that late payment back.

他們不能繼續購物，直到他們支付逾期付款回來。

Regulators are also concerned that small businesses are unable to absorb the merchant fees

監管部門也擔心小企業無力承擔商戶費用。

as easily as larger businesses, hurting competition.

如同大企業一樣輕鬆，傷害了競爭。

I think the regulatory bodies are seeing not only how can we protect the consumers,

我想，監管機構不僅看到了我們如何能保護消費者。

but also how can we protect the merchants as well.

但也如何才能保護好商家。

I think this is something that is going to be an ongoing conversation for many years to come.

我想，這將是未來很多年都會持續的話題。

Nick said the company is currently in voluntary discussions with regulators about such concerns.

尼克表示，公司目前正與監管機構就此類問題進行自願討論。

Even as the industry continues to grow apace, Afterpay has yet to turn in a profit.

即使行業持續快速發展，Afterpay仍未實現盈利。

In 2020, Afterpay's revenue doubled to $382 million while losses halved to $16.8 million.

2020年，Afterpay的收入翻了一番，達到3.82億美元，而虧損減半，達到1680萬美元。

The business is now focused on driving that growth forward.

目前，該企業正專注於推動這一增長。

Key targets for that include the U.S., the U.K. and Europe.

主要目標包括美國、英國和歐洲。

To that end, Nick will be based in the States to lead their international expansion,

為此，Nick將常駐美國，上司他們的國際擴張。

while his co-CEO Anthony will be based in Australia.

而他的聯合首席執行官安東尼將在澳洲工作。

Different regions are in different phases of growth.

不同地區處於不同的發展階段。

In Australia, one in three millennials use our service every month.

在澳洲，每三個千禧一代中就有一個每月使用我們的服務。

In the U.S., we processed over $4 billion of volume in the past 12 months.

在美國，過去12個月我們處理了超過40億美元的交易量。

But it's our second full year and we're really just getting started.

但這是我們第二個完整的年頭，我們真的才剛剛開始。