How Klarna evolved into a force in digital payments and buy-now-pay-later

Klarna was founded in Sweden in 2005 with the aim of reducing friction and mistrust in online shopping by allowing consumers to pay after receiving goods.

How Klarna developed

The company expanded across the Nordic region and Europe, developed broader online-payment and instalment products and became closely associated with the buy-now-pay-later model. It later added shopping, banking and merchant services and by 2026 operated as a public company.

Klarna in 2026

Klarna’s platform connected consumers and merchants through checkout, payments, financing and shopping services across multiple markets.

Its history captures both the convenience and controversy of modern consumer credit embedded directly into e-commerce, where growth has been accompanied by closer regulatory attention to affordability and disclosure.

Information was checked against public company material, regulatory filings and reputable independent reporting where available, using sources accessible on 18 September 2026.