Klarna nabs Walmart away from Affirm and boosts its IPO prospects

On the heels of its IPO filing, Swedish fintech giant Klarna announced on Monday that it will exclusively provide buy now, pay later loans for Walmart. The partnership with Walmart is one that rival Affirm had previously owned. Klarna will provide the loans to Walmart customers through OnePay, a fintech startup in which it owns a majority stake and is also backed by Ribbit Capital. Klarna will take over providing the loans “later this year,” it said in a statement. San Francisco-based Affirm’s stock took a hit on the news, down 8% by early afternoon on Monday, trading at just over $46. The two companies have been rivals for years although Affirm is more focused on the United States. It went public in 2021 and recently announced that it has achieved $80 million in GAAP net income. Klarna, after suffering a massive blow to its valuation, has made a comeback of sorts and reported a net profit of $21 million in 2024, a huge swing from a loss in 2023 of -$244 million. Last September Aff ... Read full article.