<ul><li>Klarna has announced a strategic partnership with online payment processor Stripe to offer its BNPL solutions to Stripe merchants in the US, plus close to 20 European markets including France, Germany, the UK, and Sweden, with intentions to expand the partnership to more markets in the future.</ul> 

• Stripe, which has operations in more than 40 countries, is expected to increase Klarna’s merchant reach significantly. Stripe is Klarna’s preferred payments partner in the US and Canada and now processes roughly 90% of Klarna’s payment volume in the region. 

 <ul><li> Analyst QuickTake : The partnership is notable since Stripe and Klarna are the top two valued privately-held FinTech companies in the world, valued at USD 95 billion and USD 46 billion, respectively. Stripe is already a major player in the FinTech Infrastructure space and Klarna is considered the leading disruptor in the BNPL space with 90 million global active users across 20 markets. Klarna’s recent activity, which includes a multi-year partnership with Simon Property Group and the acquisition of online travel planner Inspirock, reflects its merchant acquisition strategy that is further fulfilled through this strategic partnership.</ul>