Tencent Holdings Ltd., a Hong Kong-based gaming and mobile commerce conglomerate, has acquired a 5% stake in Afterpay, an  Australia-based platform that lets consumers make online purchases in monthly installments. 

"We are pleased to become investors in Afterpay," James Mitchell, chief strategy officer at Tencent, said in a press releasey. "Inside China we operate the leading digital payment service and a rapidly growing fintech platform and outside China we have actively invested in pioneering fintech companies, providing us with unique insights into emerging fintech services."

Afterpay Co-Founders Anthony Eisen and Nick Molnar said the deal includes the potential to collaborate on future technology, geographic or payment areas. 

"Tencent's investment provides us with the opportunity to learn from one of the world's most successful digital investment platforms," they said in the release. 

Afterpay is one of the fastest growing 'buy now, pay later' platforms in the world, including the U.S. 

The service has about 4.4 million customers in the U.S., operating on more than 9,100 merchant sites.