Buy now, pay later (BNPL) banking platform Klarna is bringing its physical card to the U.S., three weeks after a U.K. rollout drew close to half a million signups.
The company said in a news release Thursday (Feb. 17) that the waitlist for the card is now open, offering customers a chance to sign up for a Visa that lets them pay for items in four installments, in-store or online.
“U.S. consumers are paying $120 billion in interest payments and fees on credit cards alone every year,” said Sebastian Siemiatkowski, Klarna’s co-founder and CEO. “The Klarna Card provides consumers with a real alternative to high-cost credit cards and lets them take the power of ‘Pay in 4’ everywhere they go.”
Siemiatkowski noted the company has already launched the card in Germany and Klarna’s home country of Sweden. Last month’s rollout in the U.K. drew a waitlist of more than 450,000 customers within days.
Klarna said the card will eventually be connected to its Vibe loyalty program, which lets customers earn points they can redeem with brands such as Amazon, Walmart, Starbucks and Target. Klarna did not give a launch date for the card in the U.S. beyond “the near future.”
Its arrival comes amid a period of rapid growth for the company in the U.S., which it says is its fastest growing market. Klarna’s customer base in America grew by 70% over the last year to reach 25 million users. In addition, the company says its app has more than 6 million active monthly users in the U.S.
Reports emerged last week that Klarna was weighing a funding round that would raise its valuation to $50 billion to $60 billion, making it Europe’s most profitable startup. The company took in $639 million in venture funding last June, which valued Klarna at $45.6 billion.
