Klarna

Lending & Financing

Global BNPL platform with EU banking license offering Pay-in-4, Pay-in-30, and installment financing.

Overview

Klarna (NYSE: KLAR) is one of the largest global BNPL providers, founded in 2005 in Stockholm by Sebastian Siemiatkowski, Niklas Adalberth, and Victor Jacobsson. The company IPO'd on the NYSE on September 10, 2025 at $40.00/share, raising approximately $1.37B. Klarna offers consumers Pay-in-4, Pay-in-30, and longer-term financing across all major shopping verticals, embedded via direct merchant integration or through major PSPs (Stripe, Adyen, Mollie). The company serves 85M+ consumers and 575,000+ merchants across 26 countries. Klarna's regulatory structure is hybrid: in the EU, Klarna Bank AB operates under a full Swedish banking license granted by Finansinspektionen in June 2017, allowing direct underwriting and deposit-taking; in the US, consumer credit products are originated by WebBank (FDIC-insured Utah industrial bank) under a sponsor-bank arrangement. Klarna handles all KYC, underwriting, servicing, and collections across all markets; merchants need no licenses of their own. Notable merchant integrations include Macy's, H&M, ASOS, Sephora, Etsy, eBay, and Apple. The Walmart partnership signed March 2025 (replacing Affirm) is one of the largest BNPL deals in US history. Pricing is semi-transparent with a standard published rate of 5.99% + $0.30 per transaction in the US, though large merchants negotiate custom rates. Certifications include PCI DSS, GDPR compliance, ISAE 3000/3402; SOC 2 is claimed but third-party verification is inconclusive. Integration options include direct API, SDK, and PSP passthrough — with launch in days via PSP integration or a few weeks via direct API.

Key features

• Pay-in-4, Pay-in-30, longer-term financing
• Swedish banking license (EU direct operations)
• WebBank sponsorship for US lending
• Klarna Card (consumer debit + BNPL)
• Klarna AI shopping assistant
• PSP passthrough via Stripe, Adyen, Mollie