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Klarna scores payment deal with Uber ahead of anticipated IPO 

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The Swedish “buy now, pay later” pioneer said Tuesday that its new design would help users find the items they want by using more advanced AI recommendation algorithms, while merchants will be able to target customers more effectively.

Rafael Henrique | SOPA Images | LightRocket via Getty Images

Klarna on Wednesday announced a global partnership with Uber to power payments for the ride-hailing giant’s Uber and Uber Eats apps.

The partnership will see the Swedish financial technology firm added as a payment option in the U.S., Germany and Sweden, Klarna said in a statement. 

In those countries, Klarna will roll out its “Pay Now” option in the two apps, which lets customers pay off an order instantly in one click. Users will be able to track all their Uber purchases in the Klarna app.

The company will also offer an additional payment option for Uber users in Sweden and Germany, allowing users to bundle purchases into a single, interest-free payment that gets removed from their monthly salary.

Interestingly, the company isn’t rolling out installment-based “buy now, pay later” plans, arguably Uber’s most popular service offering, on its platforms.

Sebastian Siemiatkowski, CEO and co-founder of Klarna, said in a statement Wednesday that the deal represented a “significant milestone” for the company.

Klarna's new credit card is a 'healthier alternative' to others, says CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski

“Consumers can Pay Now quickly and securely in full, which already accounts for over one third of Klarna’s global volumes, and more easily manage their finances in one place,” Siemiatkowski said.

Klarna declined to disclose the financial terms of its deal with Uber.  

Big pre-IPO merchant win

The Uber deal marks one of the most significant merchant wins for Klarna as of late and comes as the European fintech giant is rumored to be gearing up for a blockbuster initial public offering that could value the firm at just north of $20 billion. 

Klarna began having detailed discussions with investment banks to work on an IPO that could happen as early as the third quarter, Bloomberg News reported in February, citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter. 

CNBC could not independently verify the accuracy of the report. Klarna has said that it doesn’t comment on market speculation. 

Such a market flotation would mark a turnaround for a company that saw $38.9 billion erased from its valuation in 2022 when deteriorating macroeconomic conditions stoked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine caused a reset of sky-high tech valuations. 

Klarna reached an eye-watering $45.6 billion in a 2021 funding round led by SoftBank, before seeing its market value fall to $6.7 billion the following year in a so-called “down round.” 

The firm recently launched a monthly subscription plan in the U.S. to lock in “power users” ahead of its anticipated IPO. 

The product is called Klarna Plus and costs $7.99 per month. Klarna Plus enables users to get service fees waived, earn double rewards points and access curated discounts from partners, such as Nike and Instacart. 

Last year, Klarna reported its first quarterly profit in four years after cutting its credit losses by 56%.

The company posted an operating profit of 130 million Swedish krona (roughly $11.7 million) in the third quarter of 2023, swinging to a profit for a loss of 2 billion Swedish krona (roughly $183.6 million) in the same period a year earlier.

Buy now, pay later boom

Klarna is one of many “buy now, pay later” services that allow users to pay off their purchases over a period of monthly installments.  

The payment method has become increasingly popular among consumers who are making online and in-person shopping purchases. It also can be an alternative to credit cards charging interest and high fees. 

However, it has also stoked concerns about the affordability of such services, and whether it is in fact encouraging some consumers — particularly younger people — to spend more than they can afford. 

In the U.K., the government has proposed draft laws to regulate the “buy now, pay later” industry. 

The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has previously said that it plans to subject “buy now, pay later” lenders to the same oversight as credit card companies. 

Meanwhile, the European Union last year passed a revised version of its Consumer Credit Directive to include “buy now, pay later” services under the scope of the rules. 

For its part, Klarna has defended the “buy now, pay later” model, arguing that it offers customers a cheaper way to access credit compared with traditional credit cards and consumer loans. 

The company also said it welcomes regulation of “buy now, pay later” products.

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Chase CEO Jamie Dimon says markets are too complacent

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Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, leaves the U.S. Capitol after a meeting with Republican members of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee on the issue of de-banking on Feb. 13, 2025.

Tom Williams | Cq-roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said Monday that markets and central bankers underappreciate the risks created by record U.S. deficits, tariffs and international tensions.

Dimon, the veteran CEO and chairman of the biggest U.S. bank by assets, explained his worldview during his bank’s annual investor day meeting in New York. He said he believes the risks of higher inflation and even stagflation aren’t properly represented by stock market values, which have staged a comeback from lows in April.

“We have huge deficits; we have what I consider almost complacent central banks,” Dimon said. “You all think they can manage all this. I don’t think” they can, he said.

“My own view is people feel pretty good because you haven’t seen effective tariffs” yet, Dimon said. “The market came down 10%, [it’s] back up 10%; that’s an extraordinary amount of complacency.”

Dimon’s comments follow Moody’s rating agency downgrading the U.S. credit rating on Friday over concerns about the government’s growing debt burden. Markets have been whipsawed the past few months over worries that President Donald Trump‘s trade policies will raise inflation and slow the world’s largest economy.

Dimon said Monday that he believed Wall Street earnings estimates for S&P 500 companies, which have already declined in the first weeks of Trump’s trade policies, will fall further as companies pull or lower guidance amid the uncertainty.

In six months, those projections will fall to 0% earnings growth after starting the year at around 12%, Dimon said. If that were to happen, stocks prices will likely fall.

“I think earnings estimates will come down, which means PE will come down,” Dimon said, referring to the “price to earnings” ratio tracked closely by stock market analysts.

The odds of stagflation, “which is basically a recession with inflation,” are roughly double what the market thinks, Dimon added.

Separately, one of Dimon’s top deputies said that corporate clients are still in “wait-and-see” mode when it comes to acquisitions and other deals.

Investment banking revenue is headed for a “mid-teens” percentage decline in the second quarter compared with the year-earlier period, while trading revenue was trending higher by a “mid-to-high” single digit percentage, said Troy Rohrbaugh, a co-head of the firm’s commercial and investment bank.

On the ever-present question of Dimon’s timeline to hand over the CEO reins to one of his deputies, Dimon said that nothing changed from his guidance last year, when he said he would likely remain for less than five more years.

“If I’m here for four more years, and maybe two more” as executive chairman, Dimon said, “that’s a long time.”

Of all the executive presentations given Monday, consumer banking chief Marianne Lake had the longest speaking time at a full hour. She is considered a top successor candidate, especially after Chief Operating Officer Jennifer Piepszak said she would not be seeking the top job.

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Stocks making the biggest moves midday: UNH, TSLA, BABA

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Klarna doubles losses in first quarter as IPO remains on hold

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Sebastian Siemiatkowski, CEO of Klarna, speaking at a fintech event in London on Monday, April 4, 2022.

Chris Ratcliffe | Bloomberg via Getty Images

Klarna saw its losses jump in the first quarter as the popular buy now, pay later firm applies the brakes on a hotly anticipated U.S. initial public offering.

The Swedish payments startup said its net loss for the first three months of 2025 totaled $99 million — significantly worse than the $47 million loss it reported a year ago. Klarna said this was due to several one-off costs related to depreciation, share-based payments and restructuring.

Revenues at the firm increased 13% year-over-year to $701 million. Klarna said it now has 100 million active users and 724,00 merchant partners globally.

It comes as Klarna remains in pause mode regarding a highly anticipated U.S. IPO that was at one stage set to value the SoftBank-backed company at over $15 billion.

Klarna put its IPO plans on hold last month due to market turbulence caused by President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff plans. Online ticketing platform StubHub also put its IPO plans on ice.

Prior to the IPO delay, Klarna had been on a marketing blitz touting itself as an artificial intelligence-powered fintech. The company partnered up with ChatGPT maker OpenAI in 2023. A year later, Klarna used OpenAI technology to create an AI customer service assistant.

Last week, Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski said the company was able to shrink its headcount by about 40%, in part due to investments in AI.

Watch CNBC's full interview with Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski

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