SYDNEY: Commonwealth Bank customers will be able to benefit immediately from using one of the world’s largest and most innovative buy now pay later online shopping services following Thursday’s official launch of Klarna Australia.

By accessing Klarna through the country’s market-leading banking app, CBA customers can quickly register and begin shopping at any online store. Purchased items will show up in the CommBank app and customers will also be able to take advantage of price drop and out of stock notifications directly from Klarna.

Klarna will also be available to non-CBA consumers. Klarna is one of the world’s biggest digital payments providers with more than 85 million customers using the service to purchase goods and services from 200,000 merchants.

In Australia, CBA is the market leader in digital payments with more than 7 million digitally active customers and 5.6 million customers that use the CommBank app every day.

CBA Chief Executive Officer Matt Comyn said: “Our partnership with Klarna will further enhance the customer experience in our leading banking app and address the rapidly growing demand among consumers for new payment options. In particular, it allows us to build on our leading technology to deliver the very best payment services for our customers and merchants in Australia, on platforms which are safe, secure, and easy to use.

“By partnering with Klarna, we are bringing together our market leading digital technology, merchant relationships and strong customer network with Klarna’s innovative payments technology and integrated shopping experience for the benefit of CBA customers and many more Australian consumers.”

After an initial investment of US$100million, CBA has invested a further US$200millionin Klarna Group at the same valuation, to increase strategic alignment, bring additional rights, and gain exposure to Klarna’s international growth. The US$300 million total investment brings CBA’s shareholding in Klarna Group to 5.5% from its initial 1.8% stake.

CBA and Klarna will jointly fund and have 50:50 ownership rights to Klarna’s Australian and New Zealand business. CBA also retains a right to partner with Klarna in Indonesia. Sebastian Siemiatkowski, CEO of Klarna Group, said: “This is an exciting day for Klarna, CBA and Australia as a whole. We have already developed a strong working relationship with CBA and we look forward to providing even more opportunities together for our customers in the coming months and years.”

Edited by Nayyar Iqbal