Walmart Ditches Affirm for Klarna – Here's Why It’s a Big Deal
In the latest edition of Omni Talk’s Retail Fast Five, sponsored by the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Mirakl, Simbe, Infios and Ocampo Capital Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga discuss: Walmart going all-in with Klarna as its sole Buy Now, Pay Later provider—ditching Affirm and integrating BNPL into its OnePay FinTech app. Chris and Anne explore why this is more than a simple switch, and how it positions Walmart to become a dominant force in payments.
(0:03) – Walmart drops Affirm, partners exclusively with Klarna for BNPL
(0:30) – Klarna to underwrite loans, Walmart’s OnePay to handle customer experience
(1:10) – Walmart’s OnePay valued at $2B+ with $200M in annual revenue
(1:54) – Why Walmart’s customers won’t notice a difference—and why that matters
(2:26) – Klarna’s global reach gives Walmart valuable data and fraud prevention potential
(3:06) – Is BNPL becoming the next Visa or Mastercard for retail?
(3:24) – Walmart’s strategy: Growth through ownership of payment capabilities
(4:26) – Signing up is shockingly easy—Chris’s experience and $60 in credits
(4:42) – Walmart’s long game: becoming the “payment conduit for America”
(5:08) – Why simplicity and trust in one provider can be more powerful than choice
With millions of daily shoppers, Walmart’s bet on Klarna and OnePay could reshape how Americans pay. Will other retailers follow suit?
For the full episode head here: https://youtu.be/K-LainhQQyY
#walmart #klarna #buynowpaylater #retailtech #retailinnovation #retailtech
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Transcript
Klarna will be the exclusive provider of buy now, pay later loans for Walmart, taking a coveted partnership away from its rival Affirm.
Speaker A:According to cnbc, Klarna will provide loans to Walmart customers in stores and online through the retailer's majority owned fintech startup, OnePay.
Speaker A:OnePay, which updated its brand name from One just this month, will handle the user experience via its app, while Klarna will make underwriting decisions for loans ranging from three months to 36 months in length and with annual interest rates from 10% to 36%.
Speaker A:The new product will be launched in the coming weeks and will be scaled to all Walmart channels by the end of the holiday season or by the holiday season, not the end of, but by the holiday season likely leaving, leaving it the retailers only buy now, pay later option by year end.
Speaker A:And I'm curious, are you surprised at all with Walmart's decision to tie itself to one exclusive buy now, pay later provider like Klarna?
Speaker B:You know, I was more surprised I guess that they made the move away from a buy now, pay later provider that they had a pretty established relationship with.
Speaker B:Like, I can't imagine that that was a very easy move.
Speaker B:So I think there must be some good things that Klarna is bringing to the table here that get, that have made Walmart, who I think is a very smart retailer, um, and is making some smart moves with this, their, their one arm of the business that we're maybe, and maybe we're not reading about all of those in the article.
Speaker B:I think it comes down to the best thing here for Walmart customers is that nothing changes for them like they are still, we can still use one without having to sign up for anything additional.
Speaker B:Like I stay in the Walmart app and I have to imagine that that was part of the terms of this agreement where like, you know, Klarna is just doing the underwriting here.
Speaker B:They're not changing.
Speaker B:Like I don't have to sign up for a Klarna account and leave the Walmart app and like it's just, it's frictionless for the consumer.
Speaker B:It's just taking away maybe something that Klarna is just better at than Walmart is.
Speaker B:And I think the other thing here is that this is also a big deal for Klarna.
Speaker B:Like they're a more global company but now signing on Walmart now they have visibility into the large, you know, the largest US market with Walmart and now comprehensively, like they have that selling point for any other retailer that they go off of that they have the most global data, which gives them, you know, much more opportunity.
Speaker B:And I wonder if it doesn't help to make it more easier to spot bad actors too.
Speaker B:So like, if I know, you know, somebody's using Klarna in, at a retailer, you know, in Europe and somebody's using Klarna in Walmart, like, will they have better visibility to that dashboard of, of maybe people that are not using this service effectively or who are not paying back their loans?
Speaker B:Like, does that give them greater visibility too?
Speaker B:I don't know that for sure, but it would be something that I'd be curious about.
Speaker B:But were you surprised?
Speaker B:Like, where, where do you think about this?
Speaker A:Yeah, when I first read the headline, I actually was a little surprised because I do see a world, or at least I thought I saw a world where Klarna firm, Sezzle Navy, BNPL provider are like Visa, MasterCard, Discover or American Express.
Speaker A:They're just an option that you can use to pay wherever you want at all me in the long run.
Speaker A:But, but then I dug in and I think it's a really smart move from Walmart because it's basically, it's, it's a land grab.
Speaker A:It's a, it's a positioning of, of one pay to be, you know, the thing that Walmart customers use, you know, and one pay for those unfamiliar, according to CNBC and the statistics they put in the article.
Speaker A:You know, it's a standalone business venture of Walmart and it has a, currently has a valuation of over $2 billion.
Speaker A:And here's the other part I didn't know, Ann.
Speaker A:Its revenue already is at $200 million a year.
Speaker A:That's nuts.
Speaker A:So this deal to me is about powering one pay, as in one pay powered by Karna, like you said.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:And Walmart has millions of people going through its stores every day.
Speaker A:If it can get people using its payment capabilities, not just in Walmart.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Also throughout the world, that means huge growth potential.
Speaker A:This is a growth strategy, folks.
Speaker A:This is what I talk about.
Speaker A:This is what I hit Target over the head for all the time.
Speaker A:This is a growth strategy.
Speaker A:That's why Walmart is so impressive here.
Speaker A:And the other part, and I don't know if you tried it, but I tried it yesterday.
Speaker A:It is so easy to sign up.
Speaker A:It took me less than three minutes to get signed up for it.
Speaker A:I got a $10 credit immediately.
Speaker A:I can get another $50 credit if I do some other things really quickly as well.
Speaker A:So it's, you can see where this is going you know, Walmart wants, I mean, it's kind of a page out of like Elon Musk and his Tesla payment thing.
Speaker B:Oh boy.
Speaker A:Walmart wants to be the payment conduit.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker A:You know, for America, essentially.
Speaker A:And, and God, you can see how you can actually start to see how this could play out.
Speaker A:And so for that reason, I think it's actually a really smart move that they're just tying themselves to one partner, because that, that's the goal here at the end of the day, is just giving your customers something they can rely on.
Speaker A:You don't need to give them a lot of options at the end of the day either.
Speaker A:So just give them something they can rely on so you can focus on building that out.
Speaker A:Super, super smart by Walmart.
Speaker A:I, I love this story.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And so easy.
Speaker B:Like, it's so easy whether you're checking out at the store, like you can tap one page, like on your phone, if you're using, scanning your wallet.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:It's so, so simple to do.
Speaker B:And that's what I love the most about this.
Speaker B:Like, there's no messing around.
Speaker B:It just kind of further establishes that relationship and that trust in Walmart as a retailer too.
Speaker B:So.
