Payment processors Afterpay and Sezzle come to Germany

The two fintechs want to compete with Klarna and Ratepay. Sezzle is already in Berlin, Afterpay is still looking for a head of Germany.

The market for payment processors in Germany is growing: the listed US company Sezzle is launching in Germany. Lukas Zels will become Director of Operations, while Josef Seilern will be Managing Director for Europe, reports Finance Forward. Both are the founders of the start-up Locafox, a manufacturer of POS systems. Locafox was acquired by Anker last year. Zels previously worked at Rocket Internet. There are 22 vacancies for the Berlin office. The first customers are MyProtein and the CBD manufacturer Vaay.

The Australian payment processor Afterpay is also coming to Germany, but is called Clearpay in Europe because the name is already used by another company. Clearpay is currently looking for a Head of Germany, reports Finance Forward. Clearpay has a license in Spain, which it can use throughout Europe.

The main competitor of the two companies is the Swedish payment service provider Klarna. The German competitor is Ratepay. Apple has also announced its entry into the billing business. "Apple Pay in 4" is intended to enable customers to pay invoices with a time delay and without interest.