Latest news with #Sweedish
Miami Herald
05-08-2025
- Business
- Miami Herald
BNPL users can breathe easy (for now) after latest Klarna decision
Buy now, pay later (BNPL) companies such as Affirm, Afterpay, Klarna, PayPal, Sezzle, and Zip offer customers no-interest, pay-in-four-installments loans. Sweedish fintech company Klarna has been around since 2005, but it didn't become the nearly ubiquitous e-commerce presence it is today until the Covid pandemic. Today, Klarna's buy now, pay later platform has rocketed to become one of Europe's most valuable private tech companies. Related: New rules could put 'buy now, pay later' loans on life support The company was valued at about $14.6 billion last year. While Klarna has waffled on plans to go public in recent months, there are reports that it is aiming for a U.S. initial public offering as soon as September. In June, Fair Isaac Corp. (FICO), the leading credit reporting firm, announced that it will debut a new model that factors BNPL loans into people's official credit scores. Earlier this summer, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released a study of BNPL users from 2021 to 2023. It found that about 63% of borrowers used multiple loans at the same time during some time during the year, and 33% also took loans from multiple BNPL lenders. FICO conducted its own year-long joint study on BNPL, comparing the credit scores of 500,000 Affirm customers over a 12-month period against a control group that didn't use the loans. FICO said the study "confirmed that a unique consumer behavior associated with BNPL loans is the potential for a large number of these loans to be opened within a short period of time." This week, Klarna and Afterpay began pushing back against the new FICO rules. Klarna said it would not share its data about the majority of its loans with FICO, or any other credit bureau, until it receives assurances that its customers' credit scores won't be negatively affected. Afterpay also said that it plans to withhold data until it is satisfied that the framework doesn't penalize its customers. Related: Klarna CEO sounds the alarm on a growing problem "Credit reporting, scoring, and interpretation still largely operate under legacy frameworks," Juan Hernandez, head of underwriting and credit at Block, which owns Afterpay, told the Wall Street Journal. Meanwhile, Affirm, which participated in the year-long FICO study, started sharing data with credit bureaus earlier this year. "We look forward to a system where these products can contribute positively to consumers' credit standing," a Klarna spokesman said. BNPL loans are a modern take on an old concept that has exploded in popularity as more people shop online. Here's how it works. To avoid charging interest, companies like Klarna charge the retailer a fee for financing the purchase. The retailer makes the sale (albeit at a slightly reduced profit margin), and the customer buys the item they would have otherwise been unable to afford. More on retail: Costco has a serious credit card problemColgate sounds the alarm on shoppers' changing habitsAnother automaker is forced to shift strategy due to tariffs But both the FICO study and the CFPB the study show that BNPL users tend to take out multiple loans at the same time, which increases the chances of default. Between 2021 and 2022, the average number of loans per borrower rose to 9.5 from 8.5. The CFPB also found that BNPL lenders approved applicants wth subprime credit scores 78% of the time. BNPL transactions are expected to reach $108 billion this year, up from $94 billion in 2024. Meanwhile, Klarna says that its delinquency rate on BNPL loans fell to 0.88% in Q2 2025 from 1.03% in Q2 2024. Delinquency rates for Klarna's fixed-term Fair Financing product, which is typically used over 6-12 months for higher-value items, fell slightly to 2.18% from 2.20% last year. Related: Ford is still haunted by this one, costly issue The Arena Media Brands, LLC THESTREET is a registered trademark of TheStreet, Inc.
USA Today
24-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Michigan State hockey lands commitment from Swedish forward Eric Nilson
Michigan State hockey lands commitment from Swedish forward Eric Nilson Michigan State hockey finished their roster moves on the defensive side of the ice with adding Ferris State transfer Travis Shoudy into the mix, leaving just one or two more forwards left to add to completely fill the 2025-26 roster. The Spartans have found their latest piece to the puzzle on Friday night. Michigan State gained the commitment of Eric Nilson, a 2007-born native of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, but coming from Sweedish heritage. He is expected to join the Spartans roster in 2025-26. He will come to MSU from Sweden's J20 Nationell league as a member of Djurgårdens IF. Nilson is the son of former NHL player Marcus Nilson, who played 10 seasons in the league, racking up 270 points. The son of an NHLer, Nilson has NHL prowess himself, being one of the top prospects in the upcoming 2025 NHL Entry Draft, and is currently projected as a second round pick. A 6'0", 155 pound 18-year-old, there will most likely be a small learning curve coming to NCAA hockey, but he should be a plus player for the Spartans over the next few seasons. Contact/Follow us @The SpartansWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Michigan State news, notes and opinion. You can also follow Cory Linsner on X @Cory_Linsner
