Klarna’s Post

Klarna sells it checkout solution (KSO) to a consortium led by blq. 📰 ❗ With the divestment of its checkout, it moves away from what was their core business merely a decade ago. It sends clear signal to the payment ecosystem that, at least Klarna sees its long time profitability elsewhere. What will it mean to the ecosystem as a whole? ❓ Will it lead to further changes? 💱 How will competitors react and adapt its business? ⏩ https://lnkd.in/dxauCMJg

Klarna decided to sell its checkout product to consortium of investors led by Kamjar Hajabdolahi, CEO & Founding Partner at BLQ Invest for an amount € 485M, due to channel conflicts. https://lnkd.in/gQRHFTWh In my professional life I have often been asked to worry about channel conflict and hence this became a case of interest for me 😎 So why did Klarna built checkout and then had to sell ? ⌛ Checkout was launched in 2012. Assuming build started in 2011, BNPL was a new concept, and e-commerce was still growing. Traditional acquirers likely avoided new fintech payment methods. 👎 Limited PSPs: Stripe (launched in 2011 in the US) and Adyen (launched in 2005, with an acquiring license in 2012) were not as dominant or globally accessible as they are now. 💹 Klarna wanted rapid growth, requiring significant spending on consumer awareness. A robust distribution network was essential to quickly activate new leads, necessitating control over merchant integration. 🦄 Klarna, not as well-known in 2011, needed to ensure a consistent user experience across all interactions, leading to the development of its own checkout system. Over time, Klarna's checkout product evolved became market leader in Nordics ( market share : 40% in Sweden, 20% in Nordics ). For rest of the world Klarna forged partnerships with Stripe (2021) and Adyen (2019) . In 2023, Klarna deepened its partnership with Adyen, making Adyen its acquiring bank for all markets. Despite these partnerships, Klarna's checkout product must have had to evolve to support merchant needs matching those of competition. Klarna also launched Paynow in 2021 to pay from bank account or cards. Klarna claims paynow now is 40% of its online channel and 90% of its offline channel ( Annual report 2021 ). This meant going directly against its partners 🤜🤛 Channel conflict was inevitable. Klarna, aiming for an IPO in 2024, needed to demonstrate a clear path to scaling in the US. If parters have to heavy lift distribution in US than Checkout had to go. Even though checkout present robust numbers, keeping it alive meant investing in its upkeep/ improvement and distribution. Hence I think they must have thought about spinning it off the day they signed with stripe. 🧑🎓Key Lessons 📌 Build your distribution network if * You are bringing a completely new product to market which distribution network does not exist or existing distribution network can not cater to. * You have special needs on how the product is being made available to your customers. 📌A build decision might change to partner when market evolves. In 2024 more and more customer value is created via partnerships 📌 A buy decision is then left to mostly to acquire customers or make quick entry to a new market. 🤔 #FinTech #BNPL #Ecommerce #DistributionStrategy #Klarna #PaymentMethods #BusinessStrategy #TechNews #Innovation #GrowthStrategy #Partnerships #MarketDynamics #Product #channelconflicts

Checkout.com losses widen to f $126.3M  (£100 M) !!! London-based fintech Checkout.com's Financial Performance Analysis for 2022 : ⚡ Checkout .com's net losses surge by over 400% ( higher than the previous year's $25m loss ) to $126.3 M. The company put the poor performance down to a “shift in the macro environment and geopolitical backdrop in 2022”. “Rising inflation and reduced consumer spending/confidence” was cited by Checkout.com as a drag on growth. 💸 YoY Revenue dips from $259.6 M (in 2021) to $246.3 M (in 2022) while expenses soar. 🌍 Brexit impact: movement of merchants affecting net revenue growth. 📉 Valuation drops from $40 B to $11 B in turbulent 2022. Kusuma Pagadala , Ferda K. , Victor Yaromin , Neeraj Malhotra , Bilal El Kouche , Saleh ALhammad , Mohammed Al-Madi. ITIL,ISTQB,MSIS , OMAR ALAMI , Pedro Azevedo , Francesco Santoro , Nicolas Pinto , Sam Boboev , Marcel van Oost , Arastu Agarwal , Carlos Gila , Matthias Lecroix , Mehdi Tatepoire ,  Fernando Estevez Vazquez #DigitalPayments #Fintech #FinancialAnalysis #BusinessInsights #Ecommerce

Klarna Checkout, we hardly knew you! (And, yes, that's a very US-centric perspective.) In an interesting deal, Klarna sold its checkout product for $520 million to a consortium of financial investors. Klarna's explanation for the sale is pretty simple: Klarna Checkout was basically competing with PSPs like Adyen and Stripe, who are important distribution partners for Klarna's flagship BNPL and financing products. Its new owners will operate it as a standalone checkout solution moving forward. But the optimized checkout business is a tough space with plenty of competition. PayPal, Stripe, Shopify, Bolt and several others have invested lots of time and money in this space. New entrants continue to come along, including Paze℠, the newly-launched wallet from Early Warning®, owned by a consortium of the US's largest banks. The US continues to be Klarna's growth market, but I'd argue that Klarna Checkout has failed to gain much traction in the States. However, Klarna notes that its checkout business has been profitable, particularly in Europe. Will the new standalone version see growth in Europe and the rest of the world? More details here at PYMNTS: https://lnkd.in/gq23Jk3z and from Finance Magnates: https://lnkd.in/gpje2jkT #payments #checkout #bnpl #klarna

Klarna is choosing friendship over competition. Exiting its checkout business to focus on distribution with Stripe and Adyen. Here's why 👇 📰 Klarna will sell its checkout business, finding that it created a conflict of interest with key partners like Stripe and Adyen. An investor consortium led by Kamjar Hajabdolahi will buy the division for 5.4bn Kroner ($508m). (CityAm) 🧠 Klarna chose partnership over competition. The distribution Adyen, Stripe, and others can offer will far outweigh the direct revenue Klarna can generate from its own checkout product (especially in the US where checkout was nacent and Klarna growth is highest). 🧠 In Fintech and finance, everyone is your frenemy and partnerships > competing on all the things. 🧠 The market is saying you can be BNPL or checkout; it is hard to be both. If you're BNPL, your best route is to partner (e.g., Apple and Affirm) because those partners bring distribution you couldn't achieve alone. If you're a checkout, your best route is to partner because BNPL providers have pricing power in their products you couldn't match alone. It's a win-win. 🧠 Unless you're PayPal, which is all things to nobody. PayPal is a branded checkout, wallet, BNPL provider, unbranded checkout, and basket case all in one. Its bright spot is Europe, where the only real competition in PSP land (at PayPal scale) is Adyen. In the US, it's getting crushed on branded and unbranded. There's a new CEO who's going to have to work hard to turn that around. But PayPal doing a thing, is not evidence that it's the right thing to do. #payments #fintech #bnpl

Check out the latest edition of “My Path in Payments” featuring our Head of Financial Partnerships, Jeffrey Weiland. 💳 Jeff walks through his journey in the payments industry, revealing how seamless payment solutions have transformed from a little-understood backend function into a crucial growth lever for businesses.  Read more about Jeff's journey and the role of shopper identity in payments innovation in this feature from one of Bolt’s key strategic partners, Checkout.com:

🚨 𝗡𝗲𝘄𝘀 𝗙𝗹𝗮𝘀𝗵: Klarna is launching a monthly subscription plan in the U.S. called "Klarna Plus" to lock in its heaviest users ahead of an initial public offering this year, the company told CNBC. The product is set to be announced later Wednesday and will cost $7.99 per month, the Stockholm-based company said. Users of the subscription plan, named Klarna Plus, will get service fees waived, earn double rewards points and have access to curated discounts from partners including Nike and Instacart, according to Chief Marketing Officer David Sandstrom. Buy now, pay later services such as Klarna and Affirm have surged in popularity in recent years as more Americans rely on a new, fintech-enabled form of credit. The services typically break up a purchase into four payments. When Klarna users shop outside the firm’s network of 500,000 retailers — at places such as Walmart, Target, Amazon and Costco — they pay $1 to $2 in transaction fees. “The main proposition of Klarna Plus right now is that you don’t pay any service fees,” Sandstrom said. “So if you love Klarna and if you love shopping at Target and Walmart, it makes a ton of sense financially.” The approach is especially timely as Klarna nears an IPO that could value it at more than $15 billion, Sky News reported in November. Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski told Bloomberg this week that a listing in the U.S., the firm’s largest market, was probably imminent. More info in the complete source article: https://lnkd.in/eybvr_TM Find this helpful? [ 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁 ] Anything to add about this subject? [ 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 ] Nice story, Marcel. Next! [ 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 ]  #fintech #klarna #buynowpaylater #bnpl #payments #paytech #digitalpayments #digitalbanking #bankingapp #financialtechnology #fintechindustry #fintechnews 

Sponsored | During and after the pandemic, demand for Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) has exploded. One retailer/merchant to adopt the service for its customers is the marketplace, Zalora which reports a huge increase in BNPL demand year-on-year. Zalora opted for Shopback PayLater (formerly Hoolah) as its BNPL provider. With constraints on how many tech resources it could deploy for the integration, and without the firepower to do the heavy lifting and launch in just two weeks, the company partnered with BridgerPay to implement the service. Discover how BridgerPay worked with ZALORA Group and ShopBack to implement BNPL across all of the brand's markets on Inside Retail.

Dr. Tapish Panwar gave us an opportunity to work on group research with my team Harsh Patel Tvisha Mehta Deev Rathod and Payod Shendre  as part of ATLAS SkillTech University on one of the most talked about topics in the world right now. We are excited to share about Klarna Revolutionizing E-commerce Payments: The Klarna Experience In the fast-paced world of e-commerce, convenience and flexibility reign supreme. One company leading the charge in transforming online payments is Klarna. With its innovative approach to checkout experiences, Klarna has become a trusted name in the fintech industry, revolutionizing how consumers shop and pay online. Klarna, headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, was founded in 2005 with a mission to make shopping smoother. Since then, the company has grown exponentially, expanding its reach to over 20 countries and partnering with thousands of merchants worldwide. At the heart of Klarna's offerings is its "buy now, pay later" service, which allows customers to make purchases and pay for them later in interest-free installments or within a specified period. This flexibility empowers consumers to manage their finances more effectively while enjoying the convenience of immediate gratification. Additionally, Klarna's installment plans provide merchants with increased sales and higher conversion rates, as customers are more likely to complete their purchases when offered flexible payment options. What sets Klarna apart is its seamless checkout experience. Through its proprietary technology, Klarna streamlines the payment process, reducing friction and minimizing abandoned carts. With features like one-click purchases and personalized recommendations, Klarna enhances the shopping journey, resulting in higher customer satisfaction and loyalty. In recent years, Klarna has continued to innovate and expand its offerings. In addition to its core "buy now, pay later" service, the company has introduced new features such as Klarna Rewards, which offers cashback incentives to customers, and Klarna Pay Later in 30 Days, which allows shoppers to try before they buy. In conclusion, Klarna is not just a payment provider; it's a game-changer in the world of e-commerce by offering flexible payment options and seamless checkout experience. #klarna #productmanagement #innovation #easypayments

Sponsored | During and after the pandemic, demand for Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) has exploded. One retailer/merchant to adopt the service for its customers is the marketplace, Zalora which reports a huge increase in BNPL demand year-on-year. Zalora opted for Shopback PayLater (formerly Hoolah) as its BNPL provider. With constraints on how many tech resources it could deploy for the integration, and without the firepower to do the heavy lifting and launch in just two weeks, the company partnered with BridgerPay to implement the service. Discover how BridgerPay worked with ZALORA Group and ShopBack to implement BNPL across all of the brand's markets on Inside Retail.