Afterpay was founded in 2015 by Nick Molnar and Anthony Eisen to provide a platform for allowing retailers to offer online layby. With the introduction of the Afterpay mobile app in 2017, Afterpay expanded its offerings to also be available for use at in-store retail locations.[3]

In 2017, Afterpay merged with one of its technology suppliers, Touchcorp. Subsequent to the merger, Afterpay's business operations consist of "buy now" and "pay later" business segments. Its pay later business enables retailers to offer their customers the facility to buy now and pay later without requiring traditional credit, upfront fees or interest, allowing customers to have the ability to make purchases now and pay for them in four equal payments made every fortnight without any interest. There is no interest charged to customers for using this service. However, failure to make their payments will result in a late fee. Customers are required to be over eighteen years of age to use the service.