Klarna

Klarna is a Swedish payments company based in Stockholm. Sebastian Siemiatkowski, Niklas Adalberth and Victor Jacobsson founded it in 2005 to let online shoppers pay after receiving goods. It later received a banking licence in Sweden.

The core product splits purchases into installments or lets customers pay after a delay, often with no interest. Merchants add Klarna at checkout and pay a fee on each sale. The Klarna app also works as a shopping tool with price tracking, a card and a balance account.

The company has expanded across Europe, the United States and Australia. It reported losses during the interest rate rises of 2022 and cut staff, later pointing to AI as a way to handle customer service with fewer employees. Klarna listed on the New York Stock Exchange in September 2025. Regulators in several countries are tightening rules for buy now, pay later credit. The company serves millions of consumers and works with hundreds of thousands of merchants. Klarna also has a card and offers purchase protection in its app. Its chief executive Siemiatkowski has spoken publicly about using AI across the company.