Future collaboration will enhance payment experiences for consumers
in Europe
COPENHAGEN, Denmark--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Today, Visa (NYSE:V) and Klarna announced they have reached an agreement
for Visa to invest1 in Klarna, and intend to develop a future
strategic partnership. Klarna is one of Europe’s fastest growing online
payments companies, serving 60 million consumers and 70,000 retailers.
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The equity investment and planned partnership demonstrate Visa and
Klarna’s shared vision to accelerate online and mobile commerce for the
benefit of consumers and merchants across Europe.
Visa’s planned investment is part of a global strategy to open up the
Visa ecosystem and support a broad range of new partners who are helping
to redefine and enhance the purchase experience for millions of
consumers globally. Klarna develops products that address changing
consumer preferences, giving them the flexibility and seamless
experience they expect when shopping.
“Klarna has demonstrated an expertise in consumer credit and online
purchasing and together, we share a vision for how today’s online and
mobile commerce experiences can be as simple as they are in the real
world,” said Jim McCarthy, executive vice president, innovation and
strategic partnerships, Visa Inc. “Visa is committed to partnering with
a new generation of partners and payment providers to bring secure,
online commerce to many more consumers in Europe. We look forward to
working more closely with Klarna to accomplish this.”
“The Visa and Klarna partnership is a natural fit. We both understand
consumer credit and the value of consumer centricity in developing
innovative payment solutions,” said Sebastian Siemiatkowski, chief
executive officer and co-founder of Klarna.
“Klarna continually strives to offer the most advanced choice of payment
solutions for our merchants and give consumers the smoothest buying
experiences. Partnering with Visa will give us the opportunity to
strengthen our global presence and product portfolio by leveraging our
combined assets. We are excited about the possibilities of what
we can do together.”
According to Forrester2, Europe is expected to see
double-digit growth in online sales in the coming years. By 2021, the
growth in the number of connected devices and improvements in mobile
connectivity will drive online sales to reach 12 percent of the region's
total retail sales. Additionally, online retail sales are expected to
grow at an average rate of 12 percent per year over the next five years
in Western Europe.
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About Visa
Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) is a global payments technology company that
connects consumers, businesses, financial institutions, and governments
in more than 200 countries and territories to fast, secure and reliable
electronic payments. We operate one of the world’s most advanced
processing networks — VisaNet — that is capable of handling more than
65,000 transaction messages a second, with fraud protection for
consumers and assured payment for merchants. Visa is not a bank and does
not issue cards, extend credit or set rates and fees for consumers.
Visa’s innovations, however, enable its financial institution customers
to offer consumers more choices: pay now with debit, pay ahead with
prepaid or pay later with credit products. For more information, visit
our website (www.visaeurope.com),
the Visa Vision blog (vision.visaeurope.com),
and @VisaInEurope
About Klarna
Klarna is one of Europe’s leading payments providers that aims to make
the payment process simple, smooth and safe for customers and its
merchant partners. Klarna works together with 70,000 merchants to offer
payment solutions to more than 60 million users in Europe and North
America. Klarna, headquartered in Stockholm Sweden, has 1,500 employees
and is active in 18 countries. The company was founded in 2005 was
recently named as one of the top disrupter companies in the world by
CNBC.
1 Visa’s investment is subject to Klarna’s receipt of
regulatory approvals and Klarna’s final decision on allocation
2 Forrester
Data: Online Retail Forecast, 2016 To 2021 (Western Europe)
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Source: Visa and Klarna