Sweden's Klarna Hires Amex Exec for U.S. Expansion

Swedish e-commerce payment gateway Klarna has hired former American Express executive Michael Rouse to be the chief commercial officer for the company's U.S. launch this year.

Rouse, who spent the past seven years with Amex, will oversee business development, global partnerships and revenue management at Klarna. Most recently at Amex, Rouse was head of the company's loyalty program, Membership Rewards. He developed partnerships with Amazon, AirBnB, Ticketmaster and Uber.

"Klarna is the most exciting company in payments and I'm thrilled to join this team," said Rouse, in a June 12 press release.

Last year, Klarna recruited Carol Hargrave, formerly of PayPal and Bill Me Later; Brian Billingsley, formerly of Alliance Data; John Keatley, who used to work at Green Dot; and Jin Han, a former Apple payments counsel, for its U.S. expansion. The company partnered with Digital River and Compass Plus.

Klarna offers online shoppers short-term credit so they can initiate the shipment goods before paying. Consumers have 14 days to pay. The company has said Klarna Checkout increases conversions up to 25%.