New data from Klarna finds that women spend less and repay sooner

By Joy Dumasia

Klarna, a global retail bank, payments and shopping service, recently revealed new data which challenges popular misconceptions about the company’s consumers. In the debate on Buy Now Pay Later, women are at greater risk of getting into debt with this growing way to pay. However, according to new data, women spend less per Klarna order, are more likely to make early payments, and are less likely to fall into default than their male counterparts.

On average, women spend £76 per order, about a quarter less than men (£98). When it comes to early repayments, 23% of women make their Klarna payments more than 9 days early, compared with 19% of men. Klarna Pay in 30 gives consumers 30 days to pay for a purchase, and Pay in 3 allows consumers to pay in 3 instalments spread over 60 days. On average, it takes just 38 days for consumers to completely repay purchases across both these products, reflecting the short-term nature of these products and the fact that many consumers make early payments.

The average Klarna consumer in the UK is now 34 years old, up from 33 in 2020. The fastest-growing retail segments reflect this demographic shift, with Electronics, Health & Beauty and Automotive Products each growing over 160% compared with last year. The default rate for women is now well below 0.5% and is almost half that of men. Women of all ages are more punctual payers than men of all age groups, with 45-54-year-olds having the lowest default rate across both men and women. Klarna consumers who fall into default only ever owe the cost of their original purchase and are restricted from using Klarna again.

Alex Marsh, Head of Klarna UK, said: “Last year, 46% of British credit card holders paid interest on their Christmas shopping, but with Klarna, you only ever pay the original price of the purchase. What this data shows is that women are simply smarter with their than money than men, especially when credit cards have increased their interest rates to record-breaking levels.”

Recently, IBS Intelligence reported that Klarna, a global retail bank, payments, and shopping service, announced that it had chosen GoCardless, a global leader in account-to-account payments, to offer bank debit payments to its over 21 million US customers.