Today (Nov. 18), Klarna reported its quarterly earnings as a public company. The Fintech giant, which was listed on the New York Stock Exchange in September, is growing rapidly as it leans into AI and looks to expand beyond its traditional acquisitions.
Klarna Beat Wall Street Expectations at $903 million in the July-September period, an increase of 26 percent from a year earlier. In its largest market, the US, sales rose 51 percent from last year.
The company also posted a profit in Gross Morder Movilevoluy (GMV), a commerce metric that measures the number of goods sold. GMW jumped 23 percent over 3 years to 32.7 billion in the quarter. One dark area of the net income, which was filled with a loss of $ 95 million compared to a profit of $ 12 million
Demand has increased with Klarna’s “finance” option, which allows customers to spread large payments for larger purchases over longer periods of time. The offering’s US GMV jumped 244 percent in the quarter, while global GMV rose 139 percent. Fair Finance is now available to 151,000 merchants, or 18 percent of Klarna’s merchant base.
Klarna is still best known for its BNPL services, but the company aims to change “from payments to full neobank,” said CEO Sebastian Moimiatkowski during his company’s fundraising. A neobank refers to a Fintech company that offers banking services without physical branches, such as chime or revut.
In July, Klarna launched the “KLarna card,” a payment card that combines the features of BNPL with a traditional credit card. The product has received more than 4 million signatures, according to Moiemiatkowski, and accounted for 15 percent of Klarna’s global transactions since October.
Klarna cuts rent amid ai push
Klarna turns to AI to move into new areas. As a result, the company has adopted technology for this personal shopping, internal production tools and even an avatar of eiemiatkowski that can present earnings.
AI has changed customer service as well: The AI Assistant Klarna launched last year now employs 850 full-time employees and has saved the company $60 million, Moimiatkowski said. Partly because of this practicality, Klarna does not “believe that renting is the right way at this point in time,” he added.
That doesn’t mean the CEO isn’t concerned about AI’s impact on employees. While blue-collar jobs are often economically vulnerable, Moimiatkowski warned that AI could significantly affect “high-wage jobs and white-collar jobs.” He said he is closely monitoring unemployment trends to understand how technology can affect consumers who rely on Klarna.