Pay-later provider/digital bank Klarna has launched a partnership with checkout and identity platform Bolt.
The collaboration, announced Monday (June 30), will integrate Klarna’s payment options into Bolt’s CheckoutOS.
“With customers increasingly seeking flexible payment solutions tailored to their needs, this integration empowers merchants to deepen engagement and build trust by offering Klarna’s payment options directly at checkout,” the companies said in a news release. “Leveraging Klarna and Bolt’s proven ability to improve customer loyalty, retailers can foster stronger relationships and keep shoppers coming back.”
Under this partnership, Klarna will become the default, preferred payment method on all Bolt-powered sites, letting merchants offer Klarna’s Pay in 4 option, while users can “enjoy a true one-click checkout” that combines units identity, payment choice and speed.
The integration is set to go live in the U.S. later in the year, the release said, noting plans to “broaden into additional verticals and markets around the globe.”
Writing about the buy now, pay later (BNPL) space recently, PYMNTS noted that this payment method had begun seeing wide use as a way to manage day-to-day, essential expenses.
According to PYMNTS Intelligence’s Pay Later Report, 75% of consumers living paycheck to paycheck — a group that makes up about two-thirds of the population — across all income levels have been using pay-later plans.
Pay-over-time options, the data showed, hold a special appeal for constrained consumers with difficulty paying bills. This group is more than four times more likely to choose these plans than households not facing those financial pressures.
“The desire for easy, budget-friendly payment options is impacting how consumers approach large and small purchases,” PYMNTS wrote. “Many consumers, regardless of income level, used installment plans to streamline spending and preserve their cash reserves.”
Among consumers frequently facing cash shortfalls, just under 9% said they had used BNPL, with 2.5% of consumers without such issues saying the same. The data showed that cash flow-compromised consumers were 3.5 times more likely to use BNPL to make purchases than peers facing fewer financial constraints.
Meanwhile, another PYMNTS Intelligence report, the Pay Later Revolution, shows that the pressures are double-edged.
“Financial pressures spur consumers to use BNPL, and continued financial pressures wind up pushing a significant percentage of those loans into late-pay status,” PYMNTS wrote.
