Latest banking news

Klarna, the Sweden-based buy now/pay later fintech, has added a loyalty feature to its app where users can store digital versions of various stores’ rewards programs. The move provides in-app access to shoppers’ existing loyalty cards at more than 8,000 retailers worldwide, streamlining the ability to continue earning rewards at those stores when financing a purchase through Klarna. The feature incorporates technology from Stocard, a German mobile wallet startup Klarna acquired last year. — Kate Fitzgerald

Revolut has picked Ireland as the first market to launch its buy now/pay later product that will see it go head to head with the likes of Klarna and other fintechs in the rapidly growing area of lending. The digital bank plans to roll out its “Pay later” offering across Europe, adding Poland and Romania later this year, Revolut said in a statement Friday seen by Bloomberg News. In its first market of Ireland, 1.9 million adults have a Revolut account. Analysts believe the BNPL market in Europe is set to grow to £680 billion ($831 billion) over the next five years.
Revolut, which is seeking to become a superapp offering a range of financial products, will allow customers to spread payments over three installments with qualifying customers given a credit limit of 499 euros ($524). Revolut will assess customers’ creditworthiness before transactions using open banking data they have granted access to, rather than at the point of sale, to ensure users are not getting into unmanageable debt. There will be a 1.65% fee per purchase. Joe Heneghan, CEO of Revolut Europe, said its offering would encourage people to pay off their credit within two months, “rather than calling on overdrafts and credit cards which don’t carry the same emphasis on quickly paying back the amount borrowed.” Revolut will not allow customers to use the new product to buy cryptocurrencies or stocks within its app or to withdraw cash. Attention to BNPL lending is heating up as more consumers turn to the unregulated form of credit. The U.K. government announced on Monday that it would tighten regulation of the sector amid growing concern some users don’t fully understand the product. — Aisha S Gani, Bloomberg News

Bank of Montreal opened its new American headquarters in downtown Chicago, with Mayor Lori Lightfoot cutting the ribbon at the 50-story BMO Tower. The site, beside the Chicago Union Station, will house more than 3,000 employees. "We're the largest bank in the world that has its U.S. headquarters in Chicago, a market in which we have a long, proud history of over 160 years," David Casper, U.S. chief executive of BMO Financial Group, said in a statement. — Victoria Zhuang