Klarna is one of the most innovative and fastest-growing fintech companies at the moment and offers safe and easy-to-use payment solutions to e-stores. The Swedish e-commerce company, backed by investors such as Sequoia Capital and Atomico, is one of Europe’s tech unicorns and constantly evolving. Time to have a chat with Robert Bueninck, General Manager Netherlands, France, and Belgium, about Klarna’s successful approach.
Klarna was founded in Stockholm in 2005 with the goal to simplify online payments. With our online payment methods, customers receive their purchases first before they make a payment. Klarna subsumes the credit and fraud risks of online retailers. We cooperate with over 70.000 webshops and serve over 60 million customers worldwide.
Klarna developed Klarna Checkout, or KCO. The platform replaces the check-out environment of individual online stores, thus making an online purchase extremely simple and fast. Any online shopper using Klarna Checkout for the first time only fills out his e-mail address and postal code. Every subsequent purchase from any webshop using Klarna Checkout can be completed with a single click.
Klarna appears in different lists as one of the world’s hottest fintech companies. What’s your secret?
At Klarna we understand that technology has one main purpose: to help serve your clients better. I believe we are – rightfully – perceived as a ‘hot fintech company’, because of the fact that our products and services have a direct and measurable impact on the way retailers are performing and how their clients experience online shopping.
Company culture is a main topic these days within companies. How would you describe the culture at Klarna?
We are a relatively flat organization with an open door policy. We believe it’s important that you are able to reach out to everyone within the company in order to get the best possible results.
What do you look for when hiring new employees, what are the do’s and dont’s?
At Klarna, we are looking for people with an open mind, who are energetic and highly-motivated. Evidently, they have to have a specific skill-set, but in terms of mentality they have to be the kind of person for which the glass is half-full and not half-empty. We are in a highly-competitive environment, so our team members have to believe in winning and making an extra effort to do so.
Why are people eager to work at Klarna you think?
We are a dynamic and innovative company with an international presence. Working at Klarna means that you’re in a place where you can make a difference and work with people from all over the world in a business environment that is rapidly changing. I think this is something that appeals to the types of people that we want to be a part of our company. Also there’s a lot of room for new ideas and personal initiative within our company. We encourage people to embrace new challenges, even if they have to get out of their comfort zone.
PaymentGenes is proud to have a collaborative relationship with Klarna, could you tell us something about your experience?
The primary benefit of collaborating with PaymentGenes is access to their network. Not only does PaymentGenes have many high-quality payments candidates on their roster, they are also well-connected within the wider payments business. That is one of the reasons we have sponsored the most recent PaymentGenes Fintech Meetup, which brought together professionals from leading fintech organisations for an evening of industry updates and networking.
Digital onboarding – or by some Merchants referred to as “Faster onboarding”, is a hot topic in the payments landscape. Everyone wants to have their (new) merchants on board within the “speed of sound” – whilst staying compliant to all the rules and regulations
PSD2 and Open Banking are transforming the industry. They require the implementation of strong customer authentication (SCA) for online financial activities. Its purpose, along with many other things, is to reduce the risk of fraud and to increase security through additional authentication factors.
