Two financial technology giants that are taking on the traditional banking industry are joining forces to build their alternative to credit cards.Square said on Sunday that it planned to acquire the Australian “buy now, pay later” company Afterpay in an all-stock deal that values Afterpay at about $29 billion.The deal introduces Afterpay’s service, which allows users to stagger the cost of their purchases over interest-free installments, to U.S. consumers and the millions of small businesses that process their credit card transactions on the Square app. It will also help the San Francisco-based Square further expand in Australia, …
