According to Adobe Analytics, buy now, pay later (BNPL) transactions reached an all-time high in November. Klarna, a leading BNPL platform, is among the companies benefiting from this trend. Co-founder and CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski joined Market Domination to discuss the company’s growth strategy as it prepares for an initial public offering (IPO). Siemiatkowski highlighted the company’s return to profitability, with the US segment playing a crucial role. The segment has significantly contributed to this turnaround, boasting over 30 million active users. On the artificial intelligence front, Siemiatkowski discussed Klarna’s strategic partnership with OpenAI. He told CEO Sam Altman that he wants Klarna to be the company’s "favorite guinea pig" in testing and learning about emerging technology to enhance operations. One key outcome is Klarna’s AI-powered customer service chatbot, which has generated annual savings of over $20 million. Importantly, the introduction of AI has not led to widespread job cuts. While the company is not actively recruiting, natural attrition has helped Klarna downsize to approximately 3,500 employees, contributing to cost savings across salaries and supporting the path to profitability. "There are specific jobs that are very clearly not going to be replaced, but I just don’t see the end of this," Siemiatkowski told Yahoo Finance. Discussing the success of BNPL platforms, Siemiatkowski highlighted the significant credit card debt in the US. With 1.3 trillion dollars in credit card debt and approximately $120 billion in interest paid throughout 2024, he emphasized the platform’s value proposition. "Our customers, by using buy now, pay later… have saved over $2 billion in interest because it’s interest-free," he stated. "This is a better alternative to credit cards, and that’s why you’re seeing buy now pay later growing at a massive rate."
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