Klarna, the Swedish fintech best known for its “buy now, pay later” (BNPL) service, launched its long-awaited initial public offering (IPO) this week, seeking to raise about $1 billion by selling 50 million shares in a debut that would value the company at approximately $20 billion.
Klarna has built a sizable foothold in U.S. ecommerce, embedding its flexible payment options directly into the checkout pages of major online retailers and marketplaces. The company partners with payment platforms including Stripe, Adyen and Worldpay to reach hundreds of thousands of merchants and integrates with Apple Pay and Google Pay to make its services available wherever those wallets are accepted. Half of the top 100 U.S. online retailers used Klarna’s payment tools over the past year, while two-thirds ran advertising campaigns on its platform to target Klarna’s high-intent shoppers.
The IPO underscores Klarna’s push to reframe itself as a broad commerce platform rather than just a payments tool. The company now offers a mix of payment services, advertising products, and digital banking features, including the Klarna card, Klarna balance and consumer savings accounts. It has also deployed an AI-powered shopping assistant built with OpenAI technology to help users manage spending and discover products in its app.
Klarna’s stratgey amid IPO
As part of its growth strategy, Klarna struck an exclusive partnership in March 2025 with OneProgress Services LLC (OnePay”), a consumer fintech majority-owned by Walmart. Under the deal, Klarna will be the sole provider of its Fair Financing installment product to Walmart’s U.S. customers, both online and in-store.
Starting in the second half of 2025, Walmart shoppers will be able to finance purchases over three to 36 months using Klarna at checkout, integrated directly into Walmart’s digital and physical sales channels. Competing interest-bearing installment products will be removed from Walmart’s checkout as part of the agreement.
While still unprofitable, Klarna has shown improvement in financial performance. For the 12 months ending June 30, 2025, revenue rose 17% year over year to $3.01 billion on 13% gross merchandise volume (GMV) growth. Net loss narrowed to $100 million, down 29% from the prior year, and adjusted operating profit swung positively to $151 million. The company’s provision for credit losses stood at 0.52% of GMV, well below commercial bank averages.
Klarna says its business model — built on merchant fees rather than interest income — aligns its growth with merchant success and consumer trust. Backed by banking licenses in Europe and about $14 billion in consumer deposits, the company is pitching the IPO as a springboard to capture a larger share of what it estimates to be a $520 billion payments revenue opportunity across its markets, with additional upside in digital advertising and consumer financial services.
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