Klarna Card waiting list opens up to US consumers

The Klarna Card is set to provide US consumers with a sustainable form of credit, amid growing popularity of ‘buy now, pay later’ digital payments

02/21/2022 - 18:53
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Written by Banking Exchange staff

Global retail bank Klarna has opened up its waiting list for Klarna Card as it seeks to further disrupt the mobile payments and accounts sectors in the US.

The new card is now available to all customers in the US, the company announced.

The Klarna Card will bring the Klarna’s ‘Pay in 4’ service to a physical Visa card. The card is issued by WebBank and allows users to spread the cost of any in-store or online purchase over four payments.

Klarna – a Swedish company that has rapidly expanded its digital payments technology across Europe – offers a bi-weekly repayment schedule and real-time credit checks.

The card will soon be connected to Klarna’s loyalty program, Vibe. Members earn “vibes” as part of the program, which can be redeemed for rewards at brands such as Amazon and Walmart.

“US consumers are paying $120 billion in interest payments and fees on credit cards alone every year,” said Sebastian Siemiatkowski, Klarna’s co-founder and CEO. “The Klarna Card provides consumers with a real alternative to high-cost credit cards and lets them take the power of ‘Pay in 4’ everywhere they go.”

When Klarna launched its physical card in the UK last year, it attracted more than 450,000 people to sign up within days of opening, Siemiatkowski added. “We know how strong the demand is for fair and transparent alternatives to conventional card offerings, and can’t wait to bring the Klarna Card to millions of US consumers,” he said.

According to Klarna, its US customer base has grown by over 70% over the past year, reaching 25 million consumers.

Digital payments are increasingly popular in the US. Fintechs such as Klarna have enabled a new world of digital payments, including the digitally enabled ‘buy now, pay later’.

Robert Anderson, partner at FTV Capital, wrote for Banking Exchange in November about the growing importance of ‘buy now, pay later’ systems, and why fintechs and banks should prepare now by upgrading backend loan-servicing rails.

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