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Regulatory scrutiny may be on the rise for buy now, pay later (BNPL) companies such as Klarna and Block’s Afterpay in the United Kingdom.
Klarna, a prominent player in the BNPL sector and preparing for an initial public offering (IPO), announced a new partnership with DoorDash on Thursday. This collaboration signals growing interest from public market investors.
This partnership marks DoorDash’s inaugural venture into BNPL, providing its users an innovative payment option for their food deliveries. According to a press release from Klarna, customers utilizing DoorDash will have flexible payment choices that include full payment at checkout, the option to divide their total into four equal interest-free installments, or the ability to defer payments to coincide with payday schedules.
Headquartered in Sweden, Klarna has recently filed a prospectus to proceed with its listing on the New York Stock Exchange. The company reported a 24% revenue increase last year, totaling $2.8 billion, with an adjusted operating profit of $181 million—an impressive turnaround from a loss of $49 million in the previous year. Furthermore, CNBC revealed on Monday that Klarna will exclusively provide BNPL loans for Walmart, positioning itself strategically ahead of its competitor Affirm.
“Our partnership with DoorDash represents a significant step in Klarna’s growth within everyday spending segments,” remarked David Sykes, Klarna’s chief commercial officer, in the announcement.
Founded in 2005, Klarna’s prospectus indicated a vast network of 675,000 merchant partners spread across 26 nations. As one of the anticipated IPOs for this year, Klarna’s listing comes after a prolonged period of decreased activity in the market for new public offerings.
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www.cnbc.com