The Weekly Wrap: all you need to know by Friday COB | Aug 22nd

By Puja Sharma

The Weekly Wrap is published every Friday and recaps the week’s main stories and deals, as well as upcoming events and announcements for Prime subscribers only.

The Big Story

Klarna, the Swedish financial technology firm known for its Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) services, has secured a €1.4 billion structured financing facility from Spain’s Santander Bank. This funding arrangement is designed to enhance Klarna’s liquidity and support its expansion plans, particularly in Germany, where the company has operated since 2010. The facility is backed by Klarna’s receivables in the German market, allowing the company to convert future customer payments into immediate working capital.

Santander, which also offers BNPL services in Germany through its Zinia platform, is the sole lender in this deal. The partnership reflects Klarna’s strategic approach to diversifying its funding sources and strengthening its financial infrastructure amid growing global competition in the FinTech space.

This financing follows Klarna’s recent U.S. initiative, where it entered a long-term agreement with Nelnet Financial Services. That deal involves selling short-term receivables from Klarna’s “Pay in 4” product, potentially covering up to $26 billion in payment volume. Together, these moves highlight Klarna’s focus on building a resilient and scalable funding model to support its international growth and maintain operational flexibility in a rapidly evolving digital payments landscape.

Deals of the week

• Midas raises $80m to build an investment ecosystem
• AND Global secures $21.4m Series B led by IFC and AEON
• QNB and Mastercard launch unified digital wallet
• BlueSnap brings AR automation to BigCommerce
• Zum Rails brings reloadable Mastercard prepaid cards
• Drivepoint raises $9m to scale AI finance platform
• Zavo launches EMI Bet to reinvent India’s credit culture
• FincFriends raises fresh funds to expand digital credit
• Robinhood launches AI insight tool in UK

Be on the lookout for

Nominate Now!!

The IBSi Global FinTech Innovation Awards 2025, set to take place on 21st November in Mumbai, will once again spotlight the most disruptive and transformative achievements in banking and financial technology. Now in its seventh year, the awards honour innovation across high-impact categories such as Core Banking, Digital Lending, AI/ML, and GenAI.

After a record-breaking 2024 edition—which drew 400+ submissions from 155 banks and 90 tech vendors—the upcoming awards are poised to set an even higher benchmark. Expect broader global participation, richer insights into bank–tech collaboration, and a data-driven judging process powered by IBS Intelligence’s proprietary research and analytics.

Beyond trophies, winners benefit from year-long visibility through editorial features, thought leadership opportunities, and industry event integrations—making this a platform not just for recognition, but for continued growth and influence.

Whether you’re a startup reimagining digital onboarding or an established bank modernising at scale, GFIA 2025 offers the stage to showcase your innovation, impact, and scalability to the global FinTech community.