Klarna has announced the launch of its own Open Banking Platform. This platform will enable access to more than 4,300 European banks through a single Access to Account (XS2A) API in line with Payment Services Directive (PSD2). Klarna’s XS2A API has been developed at scale across markets for almost 15 years through the Klarna Group company Sofort.
This platform provides a fully proven infrastructure, market coverage and connectivity, with access to 99% of online banking consumers currently across 14 European markets. Both established and newer banks and fintechs as well as other licensed businesses, will be able to personalised offerings that meet the evolving needs of consumers across Europe.
With Klarna’s platform, other fintechs, banks and businesses, will be able to develop offerings to enable consumers to have a complete overview of their financial lives. This could include payment initiation, different personal financial management tools which help consumers to budget, save and switch between providers e.g. mortgage offerings or cheaper energy offers. It could also extend to new credit and insurance products or advisory services and wealth management. By taking advantage of Klarna’s Open Banking Platform these businesses will be able to offer their consumers the possibility to manage their finances on their own terms.
Klarna’s Open Banking Platform will offer a combination of both account information services (AIS) providing consolidated information on payment accounts, and payment initiation services (PIS) enabling account to account direct bank transfers as licensed under PSD2. Klarna’s XS2A PIS solution transferred over EUR 10 billion in volumes and completed over 100 million transactions for 2018 alone across markets. The Klarna Open Banking Platform also provides developer friendly tools and technical solutions to help solve both the compliance and UX aspects of managing credentials and to overall help drive an accelerated time to market for products while minimizing costs and technological investments required.
Klarna was in the press earlier this month for teaming up with Alternative Airlines to create a solution which would allow shoppers to spread costs of flights across three equal instalments which would be automatically deducted from their chosen payment card for no interest, no fees, or late payment charges.
