Klarna Submits Applications to Establish Klarna Bank USA
Klarna submitted applications to the Utah Department of Financial Institutions and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation to establish Klarna Bank USA, a proposed Utah-chartered industrial bank. Klarna has operated as a licensed bank in Europe since 2017 and serves U.S. customers through valued partner banks. Since 2019, Klarna has provided Americans with access to over $91.3B in responsible credit, saving them more than $5.1B in interest compared to revolving credit card debt. Today, 30M Americans use Klarna each year, and hundreds of thousands of merchants rely on Klarna to grow their businesses. If approved, Klarna Bank USA would be a wholly owned subsidiary of Klarna Inc., chartered in Utah and insured by the FDIC, with its own independent board, governance, and internal controls. The charter would let Klarna bring its existing banking operations in-house, strengthening reliability across payments, savings, credit, and merchant services, and supporting sustainable growth. For consumers, the result is a different kind of bank: transparent, safe, and free of hidden fees, with digital tools and traditional banking products in one place. Gary Harding has been selected to serve as President and CEO of Klarna Bank USA. Harding brings over a decade of C-suite leadership across the U.S. financial sector, having served as Chairman and CEO of Milestone Bank, and President and CEO of Prime Alliance Bank.
