After a successful trial run in the United States, Klarna is bringing its debit card to Europe. The move comes amid reports that the buy-now, pay-later giant is also refocusing on the initial public offering it postponed earlier this year.
Since the Klarna Card launched in July, Klarna says 685,000 U.S. customers have signed up for the it. The company’s growing portfolio of card-based products now accounts for 10% of Klarna’s global payment volume.
As a result, Klarna is rolling out its debit card to customers in 10 European nations, including France, Italy, Spain, and Sweden. It plans to expand across markets such as Denmark and Germany in the near future.
The Klarna Card, facilitated by Visa Flexible Credential, allows users to toggle between services such as BNPL, credit, and debit, all with a single card. For BNPL users, the card offers flexible options such as Pay in 3, Pay Later, or longer-term financing for larger purchases.
“The success of the card demonstrates the flexibility that consumers seek in payments,” said Ben Danner, Senior Analyst, Credit and Commercial at Javelin Strategy & Research. “The consumer can make the decision to run the transaction as a debit or utilize the BNPL functionality of Klarna. This is a play from the largest BNPL vendor to capture everyday spending typically reserved for traditional debit and credit cards. Both Europe and the U.S. are heavy card users, so I’m expecting success in Europe, particularly where debit cards are strong.”
Ahead of the IPO
The European launch is the latest aggressive strategic move by Klarna, which also this week unveiled plans for a second attempt at a New York IPO. In April, Klarna postponed its IPO plans over concerns about how the Trump administration’s tariffs would affect global markets.
But now the Swedish fintech has announced a revamped IPO through which it hopes to raise as much as $1.27 billion. That would imply a valuation for the company of $12.5 billion to $14 billion.
A Series of Bold Partnerships
It’s the culmination of a busy year for Klarna, including several partnerships designed to expand the company’s reach and profitability. Some of the highlights:
- February: The company arranged to bring BNPL to JPMorgan’s merchant network.
- March: Klarna brought BNPL options to DoorDash.
- April: It made pay-in-4 options available to American users of eBay after a successful trial in Europe.
- June: Klarna launched a series of mobile phone plans in the United States as part of a “super app” strategy.
- August: It sold off $26 billion in BNPL loans to the student loan servicer Nelnet.
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