Latest news with #Gigs
CNET
20-06-2025
- Business
- CNET
Klarna Now Has a Mobile Phone Service. It's Yet Another New Wireless Option for You
Klarna, the Swedish buy-now-pay-later financial services company, is introducing a mobile phone plan the company says it will promote to its 25 million US customers. Klarna is partnering with Gigs, a San Francisco company that provides mobile virtual network operator services, allowing companies to create their own wireless brands. MVNOs seem suddenly popular: In the last week, the Trump Organization launched Trump Mobile, with its own gold-tinted phone on the way. And the popular SmartLess podcast, featuring actors Jason Bateman, Will Arnett and Sean Hayes, also set up shop as a wireless provider. Klarna's plan includes uncapped 5G plus service and international roaming for under $50 a month. Klarna will offer its wireless service using AT&T's infrastructure. The company has opened a waitlist for the service, which it says will launch in a few weeks, with similar offerings in the UK and Germany on the way as well. Klarna says it will directly promote its wireless plan through its mobile app. Customers will be able to keep their mobile number and sign up for the service and manage their account within the Klarna app. Klarna promises there won't be fees for service activation or cancellation. It also recently launched a debit card and partnered with DoorDash to allow installment payments on food orders. What's next for MVNOs? Don't be surprised if other new mobile businesses pop up this year. The overall industry for virtual network operators is expected to grow from about $87 billion to more than $148 billion in the next decade. "It's relatively easy to launch an MVNO -- compared to other ventures a brand or celebrity might contemplate," says Iliya Rybchin, a mobile industry veteran who now works as a consultant for BDO USA, an accounting firm. "The economics have gotten much better in the last few years and there are many popular brands, celebrities, and influencers who may have the brand power to do it." Those brands and celebrities who have large follower counts, he says, can use their popularity to help reduce one of the biggest costs for wireless companies: customer acquisition. The possibility for new wireless ventures, based on conversations he's heard, could include sports teams, retailers, video games and auto companies, Some, he says, could launch non-phone services or products based on specific needs such as medical wearables or cloud storage. Those contemplating launching an MVNO, he says, should ask themselves, "Is my brand strong enough and my fan base loyal enough to bring in a few hundred thousand subscribers?" That seems to be the case, at least for the new service tied to the president: "In the case of Trump Mobile, thousands of people walking around holding a gold phone can be as powerful a brand asset as a red MAGA hat. Of course, even the launch alone generates millions of dollars of media value," Rybchin said.
CNBC
18-06-2025
- Business
- CNBC
Klarna CEO wants to turn the platform into a 'super app' with help from AI
Key Points Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski wants to make the platform more of an all-encompassing financial "super app" that's personalized and can offer non-financial services. "With AI, you can abstract and adopt the experience much more to the specific user you're dealing with," Siemiatkowski told CNBC in an interview this week. On Wednesday, Klarna is set to announce the launch of mobile phone plans in the U.S. via a partnership with telecom services startup Gigs. Klarna's CEO is so bullish about artificial intelligence that he sees it changing the way the fintech's 100 million users bank every day. On Wednesday, Klarna — a pioneer of the popular "buy now, pay later" (BNPL) payment method — is announcing the launch of mobile phone plans in the U.S. via a partnership with telecom services startup Gigs. The move follows in the footsteps of rival fintechs Revolut and N26, which have launched similar offerings. Klarna's plans come with unlimited data, calls and texts and will cost $40 a month. The new telco offering aligns with CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski's vision to make Klarna more of an all-encompassing personalized financial "super app" that can offer services outside the realms of traditional finance. It isn't the company's first attempt. Previously, Klarna tried to make itself more akin to a "super app" — similar to Ant Group's Alipay and Tencent's WeChat Pay — offering additional services through multiple different buttons. This ended up being "confusing for the customer," however, Siemiatkowski told CNBC in an interview. But the Klarna boss stressed the part AI can play as looks to diversify its services and become known for more than its BNPL offering. "I think in this new AI world, there's a better opportunity to serve customers with different services and then adopt the kind of level of articulation and visualization of those services than there was historically," Siemiatkowski said. "With AI, you can abstract and adopt the experience much more to the specific user you're dealing with," he added. Super apps are popular in China and in other parts of Asia. They're meant to serve as a one-stop shop for all your mobile needs — for example, having taxi-hailing and food ordering in the same place as payment and messaging services. However, while super apps have flourished in Asia, adoption in Western markets has nonetheless been slower due to a number of reasons. 'Tremendous opportunity' Siemiatkowski says he's spending a lot of his time focusing on AI. "There's a tremendous opportunity for that — but it's just getting it to work," he said. "Everyone who has used it knows it can spit out some exciting stuff but then you need to make sure that it works every time." Going forward, Klarna's chief sees the platform becoming more of a "digital financial assistant" for users' every-day banking needs. "If we have some information that suggests that you are overpaying for your carrier subscription or your data or whatever," Siemiatkowski says, Klarna will aim to use AI to "offer you both a suggestion of a better price model, but also with a click, implement that and make it a reality." Acknowledging issues with Klarna's previous attempt to become a super app, Siemiatkowski says the technology just wasn't "mature" enough at the time. "Ultimately, the north star for all financial products — especially the fintech companies — is to try and be the financial advisor in your pocket," Simon Taylor, told CNBC. "That private banker like experience but provided by a brand becomes the super-aggregator of your financial life, and that's what 'owning the customer' looks like in the age of AI." Taylor added that, while many firms are still figuring out how to use AI, "you've got companies like Klarna building in public and trying to grab market share for a future that might not yet be built." Klarna reported a $99 million loss for the quarter that ended in March, citing one-off costs relating to depreciation, share-based payments and restructuring. Perception problem Still, Klarna has a perception problem to overcome. In the U.S., the firm has become synonymous with the "buy now, pay later" (BNPL) payment method, which allows consumers to pay off orders over monthly installments — typically interest-free. By contrast, European consumers recognize they can use Klarna to store their deposits and pay for things in one go as well as via a credit plan, according to Siemiatkowski. He also expressed frustration with "the kind of memes that we get in in the U.S. when it's like, 'Oh, Klarna launched with DoorDash... it is a sign of the macroeconomic environment," referring to a tie-up the company announced with food delivery app DoorDash earlier this year that was met with backlash online. Siemiakowski said this kind of reaction wouldn't happen in the German or Nordic markets, where Klarna operates more like online payment system PayPal. He sees a future where Klarna works as a more all-encompassing financial ecosystem with add-on services such as features for investments in stocks and cryptocurrencies — which, he adds, is "not that far off." "Offering people the ability to invest in both stock and crypto is is what's becoming a kind of more standard part of a neobank offering," he said, while stressing he doesn't want to compete with popular U.S. stock trading app Robinhood. When will Klarna IPO? Klarna paused plans to go public in April, after U.S. President Donald Trump announced sweeping tariffs on dozens of countries. Siemiatkowski said that Klarna has already achieved what it set out to do in order to be ready for that milestone — namely, building up a brand in the U.S. "The U.S. is now our largest market by number of users. It's a profitable market for us," he said. "Those things have been accomplished." Whether the company does or doesn't go public, the business strategy for Klarna remains the same. "That is just a healthy way to drive liquidity for our shareholders, as well as give the company more ways to fund itself, if it would like to do so, and ... to show that this is a an established company," Siemiatkowski said.
USA Today
18-06-2025
- Business
- USA Today
Klarna launches $40 unlimited 5G mobile plan in US
Klarna launches $40 unlimited 5G mobile plan in US Show Caption Hide Caption Expert take: Does buy now, pay later help or hurt your finances? Priya Malani, CEO of Stash Wealth, and Paula Pant, host of the Afford Anything podcast talk buy now, pay later. Swedish fintech Klarna on Wednesday said it would launch an unlimited mobile plan in the U.S., joining other finance companies moving into the telecoms business, including British rival Revolut. A number of fintechs, including Germany's N26 and Brazil's Nubank, have started offering mobile services in various countries as they seek to diversify their revenues. Other investors outside the fintech arena have also put money into the mobile services business such as actor Ryan Reynolds and on Monday U.S. President Donald Trump's family business also licensed its name to launch a mobile service. Klarna's mobile plan, which includes unlimited 5G calls and data for $40 per month, will use the platform provided by U.S. mobile services startup Gigs. Google-backed Gigs, which as a partnership with AT&T T.N, makes it easier for any company to become a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) and sell mobile services to customers without owning the infrastructure that provides them. Short-term borrowing: Why 'Buy Now Pay Later' could be wrecking your financial future Klarna, which paused its plans for an initial public offering in April, has more than 25 million users in the U.S. and the fintech is increasingly choosing the country to launch new products. "Our ambition has always been to solve everyday problems ... mobile is a natural next step in building out our neobank offering," Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski told Reuters. Most global fintechs have started a mobile service in other countries before entering the U.S., but Klarna plans to start in the U.S., its largest market, and roll out in the UK, Germany and other markets later this year. "There will be significant disruption to the MVNO market over the next two years, as enterprises try their hand at launching their own MVNO service," Juniper Research analyst Alex Webb said. "However, increased competition brings increased risk, so not all MVNO projects are likely to be successful." U.S. MVNO market size is estimated at $14.83 billion in 2025, and is expected to reach $20.84 billion by 2030, according to research firm Mordor Intelligence. Reporting by Supantha Mukherjee in Stockholm. Editing by Jane Merriman
Finextra
18-06-2025
- Business
- Finextra
Klarna offers users mobile plans
Klarna is the latest financial services provider to enter the mobile market, working with Telecom-as-a-Service platform Gigs to launch a phone plan in a host of major markets, beginning with the US. 1 BNPL giant Klarna is offering its 25 million active users in the US a single plan, including uncapped, unlimited 5G data, talk, and text for $40 a month, with coverage on the AT&T network. Citing research showing that half of Americans believe switching phone plans is too difficult, Klarna says its users can transfer their existing number, or get a new one, and activate their phone plan in a few taps within the Klarna app, without any phone calls, paperwork, or store visits. Premium and international plans will roll out later this year, as well as services in the UK, Germany, and other markets. Sebastian Siemiatkowski, CEO, Klarna, says: "Klarna has saved consumers time and money, and reduced financial worry for over 20 years. With mobile plans we're taking that one step further, as we continue to build our neobank offering." The offering comes with an AI twist. "If we have information that suggests you are overpaying for your carrier subscription or your data... [we'll] offer you both a suggestion of a better price model, but also with a click, implement that," says Siemiatkowski. Hermann Frank, CEO, Gigs, adds: "Now, consumers can expect a seamlessly integrated mobile experience that bundles premium connectivity with financial tools, all through the apps they already know and love.' Klarna is following in the footsteps of German neobank N26 and Revolut, who have eached dipped a toe into the water with their own phone plans for subscribers.
Time of India
18-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Fintech Klarna to launch $40 per month mobile plan in US
Swedish fintech Klarna on Wednesday said it would launch an unlimited mobile plan in the US, joining other finance companies moving into the telecoms business, including British rival Revolut. A number of fintechs, including Germany's N26 and Brazil's Nubank, have started offering mobile services in various countries as they seek to diversify their revenues. Other investors outside the fintech arena have also put money into the mobile services business such as actor Ryan Reynolds and on Monday US President Donald Trump's family business also licensed its name to launch a mobile service. Klarna's mobile plan, which includes unlimited 5G calls and data for $40 per month, will use the platform provided by US mobile services startup Gigs. Google-backed Gigs, which as a partnership with AT&T, makes it easier for any company to become a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) and sell mobile services to customers without owning the infrastructure that provides them. Klarna, which paused its plans for an initial public offering in April, has more than 25 million users in the US and the fintech is increasingly choosing the country to launch new products. "Our ambition has always been to solve everyday problems ... mobile is a natural next step in building out our neobank offering," Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski told Reuters. Most global fintechs have started a mobile service in other countries before entering the US, but Klarna plans to start in the US, its largest market, and roll out in the UK, Germany and other markets later this year. "There will be significant disruption to the MVNO market over the next two years, as enterprises try their hand at launching their own MVNO service," Juniper Research analyst Alex Webb said. "However, increased competition brings increased risk, so not all MVNO projects are likely to be successful." US MVNO market size is estimated at $14.83 billion in 2025, and is expected to reach $20.84 billion by 2030, according to research firm Mordor Intelligence.
