Ticketek taps Afterpay for buy-now, pay-later ticket sales

Ticketek is all set to become the first ticketing platform to offer Afterpay, the digital buy-now, pay-later service, for its customers.

Founded in Australia in 2015, Afterpay was named one of Australia’s fastest-growing fintech companies by the International Data Corporation and by February 2018, boasted 1.5 million customers buying about one billion dollars’ worth of goodies from 12,000 merchants.

In mid-2018, Afterpay entered the U.S. market and the following year company won the “Retail Technology Game-Changer” award at the World Retail Congress.

The service operates with a type of digital layby system, which enables you to buy tickets or other stuff and pay them off in four installments, without upfront or loans.

“As we work on plans for the safe return of live entertainment in Australia, one of the best things we can offer fans is greater choice in how they secure tickets to future events,” comments TEG and Ticketek CEO Geoff Jones. “Afterpay does just that and we are thrilled to have partnered with Afterpay to offer this world-first to Ticketek fans.”

TEG

Afterpay will become a payment option for ticket hunters in the coming months, according to a statement Friday announcing the alliance.

“Now, more than ever, fans need payment choice,” adds Jones. “Our integration with Afterpay will give fans greater flexibility in how they pay for tickets, while further enhancing the customer experience through frictionless payments technology.”

Notwithstanding the coronavirus pandemic, Ticketek typically sells over 23 million tickets to more than 20,000 events each year, from concerts to theatre, musicals, festivals and more.

In related news, Matthew Donazzan is named Director of Strategy and M&A at Ticketek parent TEG.

In this new role, Donazzan leads the team tasked with assisting TEG’s CEO and board in determining and executing the global live entertainment, ticketing and technology business’s key strategic projects.

Matthew Donazzan

Also, he oversees the entertainment, media and analytics giant’s mergers and acquisitions program, including target identification and prioritisation, stakeholder coordination, due diligence, execution and integration.

With Donazzan on board, TEG are well-placed to pursue its growth and expansion plan, comments TEG’s Jones.

“Matt has a sharp, creative and commercial way of thinking that makes him a great fit as we press on with long-term plans to grow at home in Australia and internationally. We are delighted to welcome him to TEG,” he comments.

Previously Donazzan was Executive Director covering private equity clients at Goldman Sachs, where he played an instrumental role in the sale of TEG to its new owner Silver Lake Partners in 2019, a deal estimated at more than $1 billion.

“We were deeply impressed by Matt during our sale to Silver Lake,” adds Jones, “and it is a testament to his impeccable pedigree that our new partners and owners have backed us in hiring him to the TEG Senior Leadership Team.”

This article originally appeared on The Industry Observer, which is now part of The Music Network.