For modern consumers, the Klarna icon has become a familiar sight when shopping online. Offering the option to spread the cost of purchases interest-free, its innovative products have enhanced our ability to buy now and worry about how to pay later.   

So, it’s no wonder companies like Viva Wallet are eager to partner with Klarna, especially in the run-up to the festive period. We look at the newest fintech partnership and the impact it will have on our holiday spending.    

A modern fintech marriage made in heaven

In 2022, the average consumer is heavily reliant on technology to facilitate their purchasing. According to Oberlo, around 2.14 billion of us shop online, with that number growing rapidly year after year. It’s convenient and accessible, and thanks to options like Klarna, it’s possible to spread the cost too.

Thanks to technology, we can do this from anywhere. Many modern-day shoppers see Klarna and other digital tools as essential to their online retail experience. ExpressVPN’s tech survival kit shows just how reliant we are on technology when it comes to everyday tasks like shopping. In the same way, a portable Wi-Fi hotspot allows for on-the-go shopping without draining valuable data, Klarna and its counterparts mean that shoppers can complete their festive gift-buying without emptying their bank balances.   

It’s little wonder, then, that cloud-based neobank Viva Wallet has recently announced a partnership with them, with the intention of accommodating a greater number of consumers. It will use Klarna to grow its existing portfolio of payment options.

Interestingly, Klarna’s buy-now-pay-later model will be accessible both to those who shop online and in-store. The partnership will ensure thousands of merchants across Europe can offer customers a more diverse line-up of payment options – and the chance to pay via a series of instalments rather than all at once.   

This will provide greater flexibility for consumers and arguably make the merchants offering it an attractive prospect for shoppers who’d rather spread their costs. Certainly, it will be a tantalising option for business owners, with Klarna’s 150 million active global users and two million transactions per day attesting to its appeal.

Diverse payment options

Source: Unsplash

This marriage of fintech giants means Viva Wallet will now offer customers over 30 payment options to choose from. These range from major international payment providers to more locally based payment schemes.     

Interestingly, Viva Wallet will use its POS app to turn Android phones into innovative card terminals, enabling payments with Klarna to be supported when shopping in-store as well as online. A smart checkout will also be available to e-shops, empowering users to pay when and how they choose to.

Options will include the ability to pay in three instalments, in 30 days, or at the point of purchase, and there will also be finance products covering terms of anywhere between three and 36 months.  

According to Viva Wallet’s eCommerce director, Alexandros Pappas, the two companies hope this partnership will help them achieve their common goals; namely, to make payments simple, frictionless, and tailored to the modern consumer. As schemes go, it’s ambitious, yet we can’t help but feel like we’re looking at the future of the online payment industry.