Klarna and Xero bring Buy Now, Pay Later to small businesses

By Gloria Methri

Klarna is working with Xero to help small businesses accept payments from consumers wanting a ‘buy now, pay later’ option. For Xero’s customers, offering Klarna’s alternatives to traditional credit means they can get paid upfront while their customers don’t have to worry about high interest rates and hidden fees.

Klarna offers an alternative to credit cards with strong guardrails which enable responsible spending. It checks a consumer’s eligibility before approving each purchase and provides a clear installment plan with friendly reminders to help shoppers keep on top of their payments. These guardrails mean 99% of lending is repaid, and 40% of orders are repaid early.

David Sykes, Chief Commercial Officer at Klarna, said, “Klarna’s flexible payment options are typically associated with clothes and shoes, but that has been changing for a long time. This partnership brings Klarna’s flexible payment options to micro businesses of all kinds so business owners can get paid on time and their customers can choose how and when to pay. This includes businesses where gardeners and landscaping services using Xero can now offer a Klarna BNPL payment option. Even plumbers and heating engineers using Xero can fix their customers’ boilers and let them split the cost. In contrast, small businesses involved in the construction industry could spread the cost of smaller projects over three interest-free installments.”

Bharathi Ramavarjula, SVP of Payments & Ecosystem at Xero, said, “We know that maintaining a healthy cash flow is critical to a successful business, and offering more ways to pay supports increased business growth and getting paid faster. In fact, our recent research report shows that if a business doesn’t offer customers their preferred way to pay, they are prepared to take their business elsewhere. By enabling our customers with more ways to pay, including Klarna, we can help them retain customers and increase their revenue.”