Swedish fintech Klarna has announced a partnership with Dutch payments provider Adyen to extend its popular ‘buy now, pay later’ (BNPL) service into brick-and-mortar stores. The collaboration will allow Klarna’s payment option to be available at over 450,000 Adyen payment terminals globally, starting in Europe, North America, and Australia, with plans for broader deployment in the future.
Klarna’s BNPL service enables consumers to divide their purchases into interest-free installments, a feature typically associated with online shopping, which represents about 5% of the global e-commerce market. As Klarna, along with competitors like Afterpay, Affirm, and Zip, seeks to penetrate in-store shopping, this partnership enhances a prior agreement between Klarna and Adyen focused on e-commerce payments.
David Sykes, Klarna’s Chief Commercial Officer, emphasized the goal of allowing customers to use Klarna at any checkout, stating, “Our strong partnership with Adyen significantly advances our ambition to offer flexible payments in physical retail.”
Adyen’s head of EMEA, Alexa von Bismarck, noted that the deal is designed to provide consumers with greater checkout flexibility, as shoppers increasingly value in-store payment options.
This partnership comes as Klarna prepares for a potential initial public offering (IPO), which CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski suggested could occur in 2024. Earlier this year, Klarna sold its online checkout solution, Klarna Checkout, to reduce direct competition with payment gateways like Adyen and Stripe.
Despite its growth, the BNPL sector faces scrutiny from consumer rights advocates and regulators concerned about encouraging overspending. The newly elected U.K. Labour government is expected to propose BNPL regulations soon, with City Minister Tulip Siddiq indicating that new measures will be unveiled shortly following previous delays.
