Klarna to Become a Default Payment Method for WooPayments Merchants

Klarna will be offered as a default payment method to merchants using the WooPayments solution offered by eCommerce platform WooCommerce.

Klarna is currently offered only as an alternative payment option that can be added at the request of a retailer, the companies said in a Friday (Dec. 20) press release.

The change is part of an expanded partnership between the two companies, according to the release.

“Offering flexible payments acceptance has become such an important tool for merchants to increase cart values and drive sales,” Woo Head of Payments Web Griebel said in the release. “We’re thrilled to partner more deeply with Klarna to give store owners easy access to buy now, pay later and other purchase financing options for their customers.”

Klarna’s global payments network offers consumers options that include immediate payments; short-term, interest-free BNPL; and longer-term financing, according to the release.

“Our goal is to have Klarna at every checkout, everywhere, for every need, at any time,” Klarna Chief Commercial Officer David Sykes said in the release. “This expanded partnership takes us closer to that vision, establishing Klarna as the go-to payment option for tens of thousands of retailers globally.”

Buy now, pay later is gaining traction as a preferred payment method, according to the PYMNTS Intelligence report “‘Adjustable’ Is the New ‘Agreeable’: BNPL Flexibility for Subscription Success.”

The report found that 16% of all consumers — and 39% of millennials — said they used BNPL within the past year.

Klarna released half-year earnings in August showing its revenues up 27% as the number of its merchant partners grew.

“Klarna’s massive global network continues to expand rapidly, with millions of new consumers joining and 68,000 new merchant partners,” Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski said in an Aug. 27 press release.

In other recent partnerships, eBay said Dec. 12 that it is making Klarna’s BNPL payment options available to its shoppers in six more European countries after a successful launch in Germany; Lenovo said in November that it enables shoppers in 15 European countries to use Klarna’s flexible payment methods for purchases on Lenovo.com; and Staples said in November that it now offers Klarna’s flexible payment options to customers shopping online at Staples.com.