Klarna Makes U.S. Debut with New Overstock.com Partnership

Klarna Makes U.S. Debut with New Overstock.com Partnership

Klarna_homepage_Sep2015

Thanks to a new partnership with Overstock.com, Klarna has come to America.

Starting today, customers at Overstock.com will be able to use Klarna Checkout for mobile online purchases. Klarna’s one-tap technology helps remove friction at checkout. Overstock.com CEO Patrick M. Byrne said that the solution has increased conversion rates during testing. CEO of Klarna North America Brian Billingsley called the partnership with Overstock “a massive opportunity to turn more browsers into buyers.”

Klarna_stage_FS2012

From left: Klarna Chief Risk Officer Ohad Samet and SVP of Sales Jakob Söderbaum demonstrated their company’s technology at FinovateSpring 2012.

Klarna’s technology allows online consumers to buy now and pay later. By partnering with more than 50,000 merchants and 35 million total end-customers, Klarna has become a leader in after-delivery payments in Europe. The company’s solution assumes both credit and fraud risk, speeding up checkout, making it safer and guaranteeing payment for the merchant.

Klarna has had an active 2015. The company hired a former American Express executive as its new chief commercial officer in June, and just a few months later, Klarna’s CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski was named to Hot Topics’ top 100 fintech influencers in August. Klarna earned profiles from The Financial Times and Business Insider this summer, and spent the spring “experimenting” with bitcoin and winning bronze in the “Most Disruptive” category at the PYMNTS Innovation Awards. The company began the year joining 21 of its fellow Finovate alums in the FinTech50.

Founded 2005 in Stockholm, Sweden, Klarna made its Finovate debut at FinovateSpring 2012 in San Francisco.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • “Narrative Science Enhances Quill Engage for Google Analytics”
  • “Klarna makes U.S. Debut with New Overstock.com Partnership”

Around the web

  • Thinking Capital announces back-to-school contest for SMBs.
  • Holvi launches Supercharge, a secure and fast way to move money.
  • Pymnts: PayPal could see a 40% jump to $46/share if recent investments pay off.
  • Vogogo is now live with bitcoin-exchange, Coinbase.
  • Prosper taps Parker Barrile as new chief product officer.
  • TSYS to process credit and debit card portfolios from Metro Bank as part of new payments agreement.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • “Finovate Debuts: Slice Introduces Intelligent Shopping API”
  • “Arxan Technologies Drafts Joe Sander as CEO”

Around the web

  • Kasasa reaches milestone: 300+ community FIs now offer Kasasa to members, a total of 823,000 accounts.
  • NY Times lists Betterment, Coinbase, Wealthfront, ZenPayroll as companies that may be the next startup unicorns.
  • Crowdfund Insider: Zopa tops £1 million in loans, a U.K. first for peer-to-peer lending.
  • Global News interviews Karl Martin, Nymi CEO and founder.
  • Trustly bolsters team with appointments from H&M and Klarna.
  • FIS launches financial inclusion lab in India.
  • SME Insider interviews CurrencyTransfer.com‘s CEO Daniel Abrahams.
  • Silanis to deploy eSignLive technology with TransGuard and Occidental Fire & Casualty.
  • Puerto Rico-based Evertec to enable mobile e-commerce courtesy of Acculynk’s PaySecure.
  • Payoneer wins contract with Dailymotion.
  • NPR interviews Pindrop Security‘s CEO Vijay Balasubramaniyan.
  • Selling Power ranks OnDeck 17 out of 50 on its list of 2015 Best Companies to Sell For.
  • Nostrum Group receives FCA authorization for debt administration to cover its involvement in customer loan accounts and debt collection.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

More Than 30 Alums Make Hot Topics 100 Most Influential People in Fintech

More Than 30 Alums Make Hot Topics 100 Most Influential People in Fintech

HotTopics_Fintech100_2015

If you drew up a list of the 100 most influential men and women in fintech, how many of them would be alumni of our Finovate/FinDEVr conferences?

The answer is about a third, according to Hot Topics, which released its list of the top 100 fintech influencers this week.

“More transactions taking place online mean more opportunities to help consumers manage their money in digital form: enter the fintech platforms,” wrote Joel Watson for Hot Topics. “Whether it be securing mortgagees, getting a loan, transferring money abroad, spending money in an ecommerce store, or one of a thousand other applications, the marketplace is fiercely competitive and growing all the time.”

See if you agree with who made the cut, who was overlooked, and who deserves at least an honorable mention.

Hot Topics is an online community of more than 300 entrepreneurs, corporate executives, venture capitalists, journalists, bloggers and other professionals interested and involved with technology.

 

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • “Four Finovate Alums Land on Inc. Magazine Top 100″

Around the web

  • Check out Utah Business’s video interview of Ryan Caldwell, MX CEO, honored as one of Utah’s Fast 50. Come see what MX has for developers at FinDEVr this October.
  • Silicon Republic names WePay, Betterment, and OnDeck as companies to follow on Twitter.
  • Pymnts examines how Ripple Labs’ partnership with Earthport enables payments between global trading partners in real time.
  • TSYS hires Patricia Watson as Senior EVP and CIO.
  • Finovate, FinDEVr alums make Let’s Talk Payments’ list of payment companies raising money in 2015.
  • Waters Technology looks at the use of sentiment analysis by investment-oriented startups like Nous and Market Prophet.
  • BankNXT profiles the partnership between two disruptive businesses, Uber and Zopa.
  • Klarna valued at more than $2.25 billion after secondary offering.
  • Fidor Bank CEO Matthias Kroner calls bitcoin a “natural part of the digital lifestyle.”
  • TIO Networks initiates a non-brokered private placement of up to 2.1 million Common Shares priced at $1.08 CAD per share.
  • AcceptEmail names Ron Averett as president and CEO for U.S.A. and Canada.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • Intelligent Environments to Enable Online Banking with Emojis Instead of Passwords

Around the web

  • KeyPoint Credit Union ($1 billion in assets) to deploy Architect Banking Solution from ACI Worldwide.
  • Misys welcomes Simon Paris, president and chief sales officer.
  • Wipro introduces its e-KYC solution based on its AI platform, Wipro HOLMES.
  • The 42 looks at Lending Club and Zopa in its feature on why people “should embrace P2P lending.”
  • EverSafe celebrates “World Elder Abuse Awareness Day” with its top tips to prevent elder financial exploitation.
  • Business Insider previews the looming competition between Stripe and Klarna as the former enters the Nordic market.
  • Pacific Life chooses GMC Inspire from GMC Software Technology to improve customer communication workflow.
  • IR Magazine highlights StockViews in a column on how innovations in fintech impact investor relations.
  • NerdWallet turns to Trulioo CEO Stepehn Afford on the topic of protecting small businesses from cyberthreats.
  • Renaud Laplanche of Lending Club wins spot among Glassdoor’s Highest Rated Small Business CEOs for 2015.
  • The Seattle Times profiles LendingRobot.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

Klarna Hires Former American Express Exec as New CCO

Klarna Hires Former American Express Exec as New CCO

Klarna_homepage_June2015

Updated: Former American Express executive Michael Rouse will be joining Klarna as the company’s chief commercial officer. In his new position, Rouse will be responsible for new business development, revenue management, and global partnerships and solutions.

In a statement, CEO and Klarna co-founder Sebastian Siemiatkowski called Rouse a “perfect addition” as the company looks to expand its global reach. “We’re gearing up to become the world’s favorite way to buy,” Siemiatkowski said.

MichaelRouse_Klarna_croppedFor his part, Rouse called Klarna “the most exciting company in payments.” He pointed to the company’s ability to “leverage data from more than 35 million consumers” as key to Klarna’s ability to develop solutions that will improve the shopping experience for consumers and boost conversion rates for retailers.

Rouse’s seven years at American Express included executive responsibilities in global sales, business development, and marketing. In his final capacity at American Express, Rouse ran the company’s flagship loyalty program, Membership Rewards loyalty program, forging partnerships with companies like Amazon, Ticketmaster, and Uber.

Klarna was profiled recently in the Financial Times and The Independent, and the company’s head of expansion, Jens Saltin was interviewed earlier this month by StrategyEye. Klarna expanded operations to the United States in the fall of 2014, hiring Bill Billingsley away from Alliance Data to serve as Klarna’s chief executive officer for North America.

Founded in 2005 and headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, Klarna demonstrated its technology at FinovateSpring 2012 in San Francisco. Some of the company’s key metrics are below:

  • Commands 10% of the e-commerce market share for Northern Europe
  • Operates in 18 markets
  • Maintains 1,200 employees
  • Works with 50,000 merchants
  • Handles 250,000 transactions a day
  • Serves 35 million total end customers

Klarna acquired SOFORT in 2014. SOFORT made its Finovate debut the following year at FinovateEurope 2015.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • Klarna Hires former American Express Exec as New CCO
  • Knox Payments Offers Free, Premium Options and Easier API Integration
  • Finovate Debuts: A Look at Stratos’ Digital Card Issuance Platform

Around the web

  • PYMNTS.com looks at the launch of MasterCard’s MasterPass in Belgium.
  • Benzinga’s Jim Probasco interviews AlphaClone CEO Maz Jadallah on “investing like a hedge-fund billionaire.”
  • Adhil Shetty, founder and CEO of BankBazaar.com, comments on handling finances after a job loss in The Economic Times.
  • RIA Biz features BrightScope and its new plan to provide mutual fund data with the launch of Fund Pages.
  • SunGuard chooses Heckyl Technologies to provide sentiment and real-time news analysis for its MarketMap terminal.
  • A look at fintech innovation in Poland features mBank.
  • Management Today profiles Zopa CEO Giles Andrews.
  • Interxion partners with Microsoft Azure to enable users to connect directly to Microsoft Azure in the data center over a secure, high-performance private network.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • “Finovate Debuts: Whodini Takes KYC to the Bluetooth Level”
  • “DriveWealth Hires Harry Temkin as New Chief Information Officer”

Around the web

  • PYMNTS chats with Morgan Beard, strategic marketing director at TSYS about how “Bring Your Own Persona” applies to banking.
  • Akamai Technologies partners with CU Cloud, China Unicom’s cloud business, to offer web performance, media delivery, and cloud security services.
  • TransferWise surpasses £500 million transferred worldwide every month, representing 2% of the U.K.’s global remittance market.
  • Money.com’s column on the secrets of crowdfunding success highlights Realty Mogul.
  • Financial Times profiles European payments innovator, Klarna.
  • GAINSCO Auto Insurance to provide agents with e-signature technology from Silanis Technology.
  • Wealth Management looks at the “new breed” of fintech companies specializing in alternative investments such as HedgeCoVest and Hedgeable.
  • Benzinga’s Jim Probasco interviews Sang Lee, CEO and co-founder of DarcMatter.
  • Edenred Mexico to deploy real-time transaction-monitoring and customer-analytics technology from INETCO Systems.
  • Market Prophit and TickerTags are featured in a Waters Technology column on the changing nature of market data.
  • HuffPo Business interviews TrueAccord COO Sofya Pogreb as part of its series on women in business.
  • Coin Telegraph lists Bitbond, Wealthfront, and TrueAccord in its roundup of “rising fintech startups.”
  • Tech.co looks at how Trulioo defends startups against credit card fraud.
  • How Motif CEO Hardeep Walia and Personal Capital CEO Bill Harris feel about the term “robo-advisor”.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • “Ask Finovate: Who’s Who in Voice Banking Technology?”

Around the web

  • American Banker talks with miiCard CEO James Varga on how miiCard creates “digital passports” for consumers to prove their identities without oversharing information.
  • Pymnts considers Mitek’s latest acquisition.
  • Canandaigua National Bank & Trust hires Insuritas  to expand the bank’s existing insurance agency with its omni-channel, insurance-agency platform.
  • Payoneer expands presence in India.
  • LendingTree adds Ascend Consumer Finances to its personal loan-lender network.
  • EyeVerify partners with Olcsan CAD Technology to bring eye-vein biometric technology to Turkey.
  • StrategyEye interviews Jens Saltin, Klarna’s head of expansion.
  • The Telegraph’s column on the high cost of bank transfer fees highlights TransferWise.
  • T24 Islamic core banking solution from Temenos now available as cloud-based service.
  • Dwolla ditches the quarter, stops charging 25-cent transaction fee.
  • Arxan extends its application-protection platform to support apps built on Android on Intel Architecture.
  • Xero reaches 500,000 customers for its cloud accounting service, sets sights on 1-million-customers milestone.
  • VentureBeat names Prosper, Lending Club, and TransferWise in list of billion-dollar companies.
  • Finaeos forges partnership with Tata Consulting to help SMBs take advantage of Regulation A+ of the JOBS Act.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • “Finovate Debuts: LoanNow Helps Borrowers ‘Outperform their FICO Score'”

Around the web

  • HedgeCoVest launches its real-time, hedge fund replication platform.
  • First Republic Bank to deploy virtual banking solutions from Q2 Holdings.
  • The Independent takes a look at Klarna and the power of micropayment.
  • oneID featured in MacWorld as a two-factor authentication app for the Apple Watch.
  • Allied Wallet now a supported online payment provider of Spreedly.
  • emX Select from eMoney Advisor now integrated with Dropbox.
  • Süddeutsche Zeitung features Trustly and Klarna (in German).
  • Bank Innovation profile on alternative fintech capitals looks at Iceland and highlights Meniga.
  • Ripple Labs adds former Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) CEO Donald Donahue as advisor.
  • A review of local fintech startups in the Boston Globe features Kensho and Quantopian.
  • Temenos wins “Best Core Banking System” honors from Banker Africa East Africa Awards 2015.
  • American Banker considers how Namu covers the emotional side of banking.
  • Entrepreneur lists Patch of Land as 1 of 100 brilliant companies to watch in 2015.
  • Pendo Systems wins awards from international financial technology publications, the New Jersey Technology Council, and SWIFT.
  • Asian Wealth Times: “Singapore’s MoneySmart to Launch PFM tools with Ewise”
  • Finaeos teams up with TATA Consulting Services to help SMBs take advantage of Regulation A+ of the JOBS Act.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • MoneyHub: From Award-winning Startup to Enterprise-based Solution

Around the Web

  • Lending Club highlighted in FT Journal feature on “trickle-down innovation” in fintech.
  • Columbus Business First talks about Klarna CEO Brian Billingsley’s appearance on Jim Cramer’s Mad Money TV program.
  • Inman features Silanis Technology in a column on the growing use of e-signatures in mortgage lending.
  • Fort Community CU upgrades its Malauzai Software mobile SmartApp to support local rewards program.
  • Cinfed Federal CU hires Insuritas to launch its turnkey insurance agency solution.
  • FundAmerica launches its Invest Now button to provide compliant, friction-free capital-raising for crowdfunding platforms.
  • QuantConnect to offer its algorithmic trading platform via Tradier’s API.
  • Zooz and PayItSimple participate in Visa Europe Collab’s “100-Day Innovation Sprint.”
  • RealEstateTechNews takes a look at Realty Mogul and the launch of its new commercial real estate lending division.
  • Bank of the West redesigns, launches online banking service but on the Corillian Online platform from Fiserv.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.