Visa invests in Klarna

Visa will invest in Klarna, one of Europe’s fastest growing online payments companies. Today, the two companies announced they have the intention to develop a strategic partnership in the future. Visa and Klarna want to accelerate ecommerce and mcommerce for the benefit of consumers and retailers in Europe.

The planned investment from Visa is said to be part of its strategy to further open up the Visa ecosystem and support new partners who help consumers with enhancing the purchase experience. They see Klarna as a good partner to achieve this, as the Swedish payments company provides instant, short-term consumer credit. It allows customers to defer paying for products purchased online until they are delivered.

With the investment, Visa will reach more mcommerce merchants, especially in Northern Europe and Germany. At the moment it’s unclear what new products or payment options the two companies might develop together.

Visa invested in Square and Stripe

It’s not the first time, Visa has been investing in fast-growing financial startups. Previously, the credit card giant took a strategic stake in both Square and Stripe. For Klarna, the news about the partnership follows after it announced it has been granted a full banking license by the Swedish financial supervisory authority Finansinspektionen.