Today I talk about Klarna. A Fintech company that is changing how people pay. A few weeks ago I even received a notification on my phone that they had passed a huge number of U.S. customers and, of course, that's good for Klarna.
More importantly this means great strides for Buy Now, Pay Later services when you take into account Amazon.com has legitimized it with their partnership with Affirm.
With all the good news I thought it would be a good idea for me to talk about my experience with Klarna my favorite of all Buy Now, Pay Later services. A darling for me, in fact.
What I like about Klarna is how well-designed the app is. Klarna is available on a few stores online but many stores aren't partnered with it so it's best to get the Klarna app and get an account with them. You need a phone number and after that it is about authenticating with them. Afterwards you type in the url or pull up the store if they're on the app and log in, then when you are about to make your purchase go down and click the pay with Klarna it pulls up all the information you need to know, how much you need for your purchase which should include the total of shipping and tax, then what I find so innovative is the process of the one-time card by Klarna which shows as getting made (digitally) if it gets approved it will pop up, and you have your card which you can then add into your order to make your purchase. Klarna pays in full right there and then. You'll get charged the first in the pay in 4 installments right off but it won't show until the next day as it processes.
It's times like this I am reminded how amazing technology is. You can get your order ahead of time before you have truly payed for it. Although you will have to eventually. But what is the benefit of Buy Now, Pay Later services is during that time you are creating savings because if you aren't paying in that time you are earning and accumulating money. And if you have your finances figured out you can pay what you were already planning on getting but have money left over. If anything for me Klarna has helped me to get things I want really bad or need now rather than later while allowing me financial freedom. This means I end up accruing savings in a month actually. The only thing I definitely caution is I definitely don't think I would recommend using Buy Now, Pay Later services for purchases that are beyond $120 a month since the more expensive something is the harder it becomes to reliably pay off. As in it is riskier. Which is how companies make money when you default in payments. But if you are careful and diligent you can certainly use services like Klarna to your advantage.
What impresses me about Klarna is you know pretty fast if you will get approved. You don't have to go through an extensive process as you would with applying for a credit card. You can use your debit card and Klarna even has a rewards program for your purchases. So you're getting rewarded for using Klarna.
