ACI’s UP eCommerce Payments solution drives further growth of Klarna, giving shoppers in Europe and the U.S. more ways to pay

ACI Worldwide (NASDAQ: ACIW), a leading global provider of real-time electronic payment and banking solutions, today announced an extended partnership with Klarna, leveraging ACI’s UP eCommerce Payments solution. This will enable online businesses in 10 major markets, including the U.S. and U.K., to easily integrate Klarna’s payment products, and offer shoppers a fast and frictionless checkout process that can improve conversion rates immediately.

Klarna is a leading eCommerce payments provider and fully licensed bank in Europe, which, as it rapidly expands, will benefit from the extensive reach of ACI’s global network of payment providers and merchants. ACI’s UP eCommerce Payments solution makes it possible to quickly and easily enable Klarna’s ‘Pay later’ and ‘Slice it’ payment options. The international reach of ACI’s solution, which covers 350 alternative payment methods and card acquirers globally, gives merchants the ability to quickly enter new markets and fine-tune their payment setup to meet local needs, delivering a frictionless payments experience for their shoppers.

Klarna’s ‘Pay later’ and ‘Slice it’ payment options allow consumers to decide when to pay for items once they have received their goods. Instead of a request for credit or debit card details at the point of checkout, consumers are prompted for their email address and postcode, speeding up the checkout process and lowering cart abandonment rates. This gives consumers flexibility and control in managing the terms of their payment according to their needs. For merchants, it is possible to offer these attractive alternatives to card payments without incurring risk – as Klarna takes on the credit risk assessment, settles with the merchant and then assumes responsibility for payment collection.

Michael Rouse, chief commercial officer, Klarna; “We are delighted to deepen and extend our partnership with ACI, benefiting from the flexibility and globality of its unified eCommerce API, which allows for a seamless integration of all Klarna payment options into the checkout process. At Klarna, our unrelenting focus is on delivering the smoothest UX for consumers and giving them flexibility in how they want to pay and when. This drives improved conversion and loyalty for merchants, with no risk attached. Working with ACI is a natural fit.”

“A best-in-class integration of Klarna Payments is a logical next step in delivering on our vision of providing more ways to pay, and the strong technical alignment between ACI and Klarna paves the way for future cooperation,” said Andy McDonald, vice president merchant payments, ACI Worldwide. “Our UP eCommerce Payment solution’s open API makes it possible for developers to implement Klarna through the addition of just a few lines of code. Through the simplicity of our solution, we aim to support Klarna’s further growth across key European eCommerce markets, and increase its footprint in the highly competitive U.S. market – where customer experience is increasingly the differentiator.”