Latitude Financial secures $813m for its BNPL growth

Latitude Financial chief executive Ahmed Fahour. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Ian Currie

Fresh from its listing on the ASX, non-bank lender Latitude Financial has completed an $813m securitisation offer to fund its growing “buy now, pay later” platform.

The company raised the cash from a blend of domestic and international investors, including from the US, and is expected to raise the size of its new warehouse, The Australian Sales Finance and Credit Cards Trust Number 3, to $1.1bn by the end of next month.

Unlike the big banks, Latitude cannot fund its lending book by depositors, leaving it to raise through the creation of “warehouses” and tapping investors. Latitude’s move comes 18 months after Latitude launched its BNPL platform, LatitudePay, now the nation’s third biggest with more than 350,000 active customers.

But it hasn’t been completely smooth sailing for Latitude, helmed by former Australia Post boss Ahmed Fahour. It hit the ASX boards last week after raising $200m from outside investors and two aborted attempts at floating the company.

In October 2019, it pulled its planned float after failing to secure enough support from offshore investors. That came 12 months after it scratched its first IPO attempt.

Mr Fahour said the completion of the warehouse facility showed strong ongoing support from investors and would enable it to fund the next iteration of its BNPL platform, LatitudePay+.

LatitudePay+ will be launched early in the second half of the year and will enable customers to pay for larger purchases of initially up to $3000 via monthly instalments ranging from six to 24 months.

“The successful completion of our new warehousing facility is a strong endorsement by investors in Latitude’s growth plans, including … LatitudePay+,” Mr Fahour said.