Pawn store operator FirstCash Inc. to buy fintech AFF in $1.17 billion deal to enter BNPL market

International pawn store operator FirstCash has agreed to acquire American First Finance (AFF) for $1.17 billion as it looks to foray into the buy-now-pay-later business (BNPL).

FirstCash Inc., an international operator of over 2,800 retail pawn stores across the U. S and Latin America, announced it had entered into a definitive agreement to acquire American First Finance (AFF), a rapidly growing, technology-driven virtual lease-to-own fintech a $1.17 billion deal to join the buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) industry.

FirstCash is also looking to foray into the retail point-of-sale (POS) payments market, where American First Finance hosts over 6,500 merchant partners stores and e-commerce platforms across the U.S.

As COVID-related lockdowns turned shoppers to online payment platforms, the demand for financial technology companies has boomed, and deal-making has continued at a frantic pace, with venture capital firms pouring money into such companies. Even fintech behemoths like PayPal and Square Inc. are expanding into the BNPL sector through acquisitions.

According to the agreement, AFF would receive up to $300 million more if it achieves specific performance targets through the first half of 2023. The deal is expected to close towards late 2021 or in the first quarter of 2022. AFF’s president and CEO, Howard Hambleton, said that AFF would operate as an independent Dallas-based business within FisrtCash.