By Supantha Mukherjee
STOCKHOLM, June 18 (Reuters) - Swedish fintech Klarna on
Wednesday said it would launch an unlimited mobile plan in the
U.S., joining other finance companies moving into the telecoms
business, including British rival Revolut.
A number of fintechs, including Germany's N26 and Brazil's
Nubank, have started offering mobile services in various
countries as they seek to diversify their revenues.
Other investors outside the fintech arena have also put
money into the mobile services business such as actor Ryan
Reynolds and on Monday U.S. President Donald Trump's family
business also licensed its name to launch a mobile service.
Klarna's mobile plan, which includes unlimited 5G calls and
data for $40 per month, will use the platform provided by U.S.
mobile services startup Gigs.
Google-backed Gigs, which as a partnership with AT&T ( T ),
makes it easier for any company to become a mobile virtual
network operator (MVNO) and sell mobile services to customers
without owning the infrastructure that provides them.
Klarna, which paused its plans for an initial public
offering in April, has more than 25 million users in the U.S.
and the fintech is increasingly choosing the country to launch
new products.
"Our ambition has always been to solve everyday problems ...
mobile is a natural next step in building out our neobank
offering," Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski told Reuters.
Most global fintechs have started a mobile service in other
countries before entering the U.S., but Klarna plans to start in
the U.S., its largest market, and roll out in the UK, Germany
and other markets later this year.
"There will be significant disruption to the MVNO market
over the next two years, as enterprises try their hand at
launching their own MVNO service," Juniper Research analyst Alex
Webb said.
"However, increased competition brings increased risk, so
not all MVNO projects are likely to be successful."
U.S. MVNO market size is estimated at $14.83 billion in
2025, and is expected to reach $20.84 billion by 2030, according
to research firm Mordor Intelligence.