Klarna Adds Compass' Developer Technology for Global Push

Email payments company Klarna has enabled access to Compass Plus' open development platform in an effort to add speedy technology deployment to fuel an international expansion.

European consumers use the Stockholm-based Klarna to purchase goods using an email address or a zip code. The company will use Compass Plus' TranzAxis, which includes technology to build, design, edit and debug retail banking and payments applications, to launch new payment services in the U.S. and other new markets.

Klarna's first TranzAxis deployment is with a merchant in the U.K. that is using the technology to power a pay-after-delivery service. TranzAxis manages the Klarna accounts and settlement with merchants, acquirers and banks. Klarna also recently partnered with e-commerce company Digital River to help it reach merchants in the U.S.

Klarna offers an installment payment product, which is common in Europe but is not widely used in the U.S. Klarna assumes all of the risk, paying the retailer immediately and collecting funds from the consumer within 14 days, a method the company contends reduces cart abandonment. In its current markets, Klarna has more than 25 million users and 45,000 retailers including ASOS, Spotify and Zara, with projected 2014 revenue of $300 million.