Klarna shifts strategy as fintechs race to cut cross-border payment costs and expand digital asset adoption.
Klarna, the Swedish “buy now, pay later” fintech giant, is entering the stablecoin space with the launch of KlarnaUSD on Tempo, a Stripe-built blockchain, the company announced on Tuesday.
The rollout is aimed at streamlining international payments and reducing costs for both consumers and merchants as stablecoins help bypass intermediaries such as the SWIFT network.
At launch, Klarna’s stablecoin will serve internal payment processes, with expansion to merchant and consumer use expected in the future.
The latest development comes after Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski announced in February that the fintech giant would embrace crypto. Siemiatkowski said at the time that Klarna was preparing to integrate crypto services and invited the community to weigh in on potential features.
