Klarna Looks to Shake up Banking With Its Savings Accounts

The payments platform Klarna AB may be a leading provider of buy now, pay later lending, but it is seeing increasing opportunity in other banking services. Early Tuesday, it launched savings accounts in the U.S. market.

In its announcement, the company calls the move “a natural next step” following its steady recruitment of U.S. consumers for its payments services, which it says it now offers to “tens of millions of Americans.” The latest announcement follows Stockholm-based Klarna’s launch of such accounts in 2021 in Europe, where it now offers them in seven countries.

The new U.S. accounts, which require no minimum deposit and impose no monthly fees, are FDIC-insured and offer rates that exceed 3%, according to Klarna’s announcement. The bank provider is WebBank, a 28-year-old FDIC-insured institution, based in Salt Lake City, that offers financial products for merchants and fintechs.

With the availability of savings accounts for its users, Klarna sees a ready supply of funding for the payments services it offers through its app. Accounts can be “opened in minutes,” Klarna promises. The company sees the new feature as working with its card and the Klarna balance feature to make a comprehensive offer to consumers. Klarna balance, part of the Klarna Wallet in the app, is an account that can be used to receive money as well as make payments.

Klarna sees the new bank feature shaking up a staid world of banking, at least in the United States. “The average American earns less than half a percent on their savings, not because better options don’t exist, but because their bank hasn’t had to compete,” said Sebastian Siemiatkowski, co-founder and chief executive of Klarna, in a statement.

Klarna has steadily followed a strategy of attracting customers via its payments services and then cementing their loyalty through its banking services. Indeed, Semiatkowski said in March the number of customers for banking had doubled over the past year. The company reported at the time that it finished 2025 with 15.8 million banking customers, up fully 101% over 2024. Its payment services claimed 118 million active customers, up 28%.