Swedish buy now, pay later (BNPL) startup Klarna has teamed up with Silicon Valley digital payments firm Verifone to advance availability in physical stores across Europe and the United States.
“The last few months have seen unprecedented challenges for physical retail. We truly believe there is a role for the physical store within the future retail brand experience, and now more than ever, consumers desire flexibility, transparency and a more convenient payment experience,” Luke Griffiths, chief commercial officer of Klarna, said in a press release on Tuesday (Dec. 15).
He added that Verifone is among the biggest competitors in the brick-and-mortar space, and that together, the two startups can “support retailers globally in creating a superior and more seamless shopping experience for consumers in-store.”
With the integration of Verifone’s cloud services platform with Klarna, users will be able to seamlessly tap into installment payments without interest payments. The two companies also strive to enable retailers to create a personalized customer experience.
“Enabling alternative payment methods in-store is truly exciting, and it’s only possible in such a seamless manner through the Verifone Cloud Services platform we’ve created over the past few years,” said Jeremy Belostock, head of alternative payments, Verifone. “Klarna is particularly interesting and unique in that merchants will have access to new, larger revenue opportunities through its flexible payment options, and Klarna comes with simple settlement functionality for the merchant.”
The worldwide COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way people shop, propelling a move to contactless payments and digital shopping. A recent McKinsey report, per the release, indicated that shoppers are trying to avoid physical contact in stores in the hopes of staying healthy.
Klarna recently implemented a new iOS widget to give shoppers the ability to monitor prices for the best deals, sales and promotions. As of November, the startup said it had 11 million users and was accepted at 60,000 stores across the U.S.
BNPL has become one of the hottest shopping trends since the pandemic began in March. When PYMNTS and PayPal surveyed consumers, it was discovered that the availability and acceptance of their preferred payment methods was an important driver in determining where people decided to shop.