Dive Brief:
- Buy now, pay later juggernaut Klarna Group’s merchant count surged 27% to 724,000 businesses that offer its services as of the end of the first quarter, compared to the year-earlier period, per a first-quarter financial report issued Monday.
- Meanwhile, the number of consumers using Klarna’s installment payment services jumped 18% as of the end of March to 99 million users, but the losses the company is incurring on its financings also expanded, per the first-quarter press release.
- Since then, the active user count climbed to 100 million in April, the company said. The company also “secured exclusive partnerships with major retailers like Walmart through OnePay, teamed up with DoorDash, and expanded our partnership with eBay to the U.S.,” Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski said in the press release.