Klarna is expanding its payments app to Swiss consumers. finews.com spoke to the Swedish unicorn about the potential of the Swiss market.
Swiss shoppers are now able to download Klarna's payments app, the fintech said on Thursday. It is already active in Europe including in Germany, Austria, the U.S., and U.K. and says it counts 18 million clients.
Founded in 2005, the Swedish fintech possesses a banking license at home and works together with major retailers and providers like H&M, Spotify, Mediamarkt, and Nike. At $45.6 billion, Klarna is now one of the highest valued unlisted fintechs in the world and backed by big Silicon Valley money like Silver Lake and Sequoia Capital, by Visa, Ant, and Softbank.
Deepening Losses
Last year, it reached more than $1 billion in revenue for the first time – while deepening its losses to $168 million, from $110 million in 2019. It plans to put staff on the ground in Switzerland, the firm told finews.co.
Vendors in Switzerland – including H&M, Campz, Mango, and Calida – have already integrated Klarna's payments technology, but not the app itself. Its best-known feature is a «point of sale lending» function which enables clients to effectively shop on credit.
Ambitions As Primary Account
Swiss bank, which have rallied behind homegrown solution Twint, should monitoring Klarna's plans with a wary eye. In Germany, Klarna plans to launch free current accounts, including a debit card. «We want to eventually be the main account for our clients,» CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski has said previously.
Payment apps and neobanks are advancing in Switzerland, a savvy retail market which thus far is dominated by UBS and Credit Suisse as well as a host of regionally-focused lenders including cantonal banks and cooperative Raiffeisen firms. Swiss consumers are increasingly moving to cashless payments, according to central bank data released this week.
«Significant Swiss Growth»
Shoppers in Switzerland paid 70 percent of their purchases in cash four years ago, but that has dropped to 43 percent last year, undoubtedly sparked by Covid-19's push towards digitizing services.
Klarna views itself not just as a payments app, but as a wider shopping one. It sees Switzerland as a major part of its European expansion. The fintech doesn't disclose specific figures, saying only «We are recording significant growth in Switzerland every year,» in a statement to finews.com.
