Klarna Augments Core BNPL Business With Growing Financial Wellness Tools

Swedish BNPL giant Klarna has added another new financial planning tool that gives users a simple summary of their spending habit.

The new ‘Money Story’ feature will be available on the Klarna app in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and Sweden and will include an animated format similar to that seen on social media, Klarna said in a Wednesday (Jan. 25) press release emailed to PYMNTS.

“Money Story provides our fast-growing network of over 150 million consumers with useful insights into their spending habits with Klarna, encouraging them to cultivate smart spending habits for 2023,” Klarna Head of North America Kristina Elkhazin told PYMNTS via email.

The launch of the features follows in the wake of several shopping and financial tools that have been added to the app over the last year and also coincides with Financial Wellness Month, an event meant to spur consumers to scrutinize their budgets.

As PYMNTS reported Jan. 3, consumers can celebrate the month by using data from digital wallets and platforms to gain better insight into their spending and the actions they need to take to reach their financial goals.

There is an urgent need for this kind of data and education, as financial literacy in America is already low and is declining further.

This lack of financial literacy has real-life implications as consumers deal with record inflation that forces them to stretch their dollars and scramble to rework their household budgets.

More than half of Americans who earn less than $50,000 annually are now living paycheck to paycheck, as are 36% of those earning more than $100,000 a year, according to the “Credit Union Tracker®,” a PYMNTS and PSCU collaboration.

Klarna’s Money Story gamifies money management by visualizing spending habits, providing animated quiz questions and delivering data from all spending with Klarna, according to the press release.

“For Klarna’s consumers, this will be the first time they ever receive a comprehensive overview of their yearly Klarna spending, ” said Felix Würtenberger, head of card and banking at Klarna. “By gamifying the often dull and daunting chore of money management, we hope to inspire users to take control of their finances.”

“Money Story is the latest extension of Klarna’s growing suite of shopping and financial tools designed to save consumers time and money, while also helping them take control of their finances and make more informed decisions,” Elkhazin told PYMNTS.

The new Money Story joins several other shopping and financial tools Klarna has rolled out over the past 12 months. These include a search tool that compares prices from thousands of retailers, a donation feature that highlights vetted nonprofit organizations, and a dashboard in the Klarna app that includes budgeting tools and spending insights, Elkhazin said.