Klarna Introduces New Business Unit to Expand Open Banking Platform

One of the most valuable fintech startups, Klarna has recently confirmed the launch of Klarna Kosma, a new business unit and sub-brand of the company. The firm has launched Klarna Kosma to accelerate the growth of its open banking platform.

Klarna noted the growing popularity of open banking among users across Europe and the US. In addition, the fintech platform highlighted the importance of technology-driven solutions for convenient and smooth access to open banking.

According to Klarna, its fintech platform connects to more than 15,000 banks. The company first entered the open banking ecosystem through the acquisition of SOFORT in 2014. Since then, Klarna witnessed a massive jump in demand for its open banking services.

“With Kosma we are opening up the power of our proprietary Open Banking platform and technology to banks, merchants and fintech companies who share our dream of a world where consumers own their data and banks compete for customers by delivering value, not by locking in data,” Yaron Shaer, the CTO of Klarna, mentioned in the press release.

In June last year, Klarna raised $639 million in funding and received a valuation of more than $45 billion.

Open Banking

Open banking platforms have gained significant traction in the past few years. Amid growing popularity, several prominent names in the financial services industry entered the space recently. Earlier this month, Visa announced the completion of the acquisition of Tink, a leading open banking platform.

“Over the past year, the demand for Open Banking services from financial institutions and fintech start-ups, has reached a tipping point,” says Wilko Klaassen, the VP of Klarna Kosma. “Which is why we have built a dedicated business unit which brings together engineering, product management, sales and marketing all together in the same team to focus on this $15bn, fast-growing market.”