B&M invites shoppers to buy now, pay later with Klarna

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B&M Home Store

B&M is inviting customers to buy now and pay later, using the app Klarna.

It means shoppers can complete a purchase at checkout using the BNPL app and pay for it in three interest-free instalments.

A number of major food retailers are listed on the Klarna app, including Tesco, Aldi, Iceland and M&S. However, most are not ‘integrated’ with Klarna as a retailer, unlike B&M. Instead, the app independently offers a ‘one time virtual card’ for shoppers to use on the listed retailer’s website, before repaying Klarna.

In contrast, an integrated retailer offers Klarna as an option at checkout, as part of a commercial agreement with the app.

Signs have been put up at the entrance to B&M stores inviting shoppers to “buy now, pay later with Klarna”, and offering more information at checkout.

Other integrated Klarna retailers include The Range and Wilko.

Deliveroo also recently partnered with Klarna, inviting customers earlier this month to ‘eat now, pay later’, a move criticised as “irresponsible” by personal finance expert Tara Flynn from Choosewisely.co.uk.

“Getting yourself into debt over a meal that’s gone in 15 minutes isn’t worth it,” Flynn said at the time.

Klarna says it never charges interest or late payment fees. Failure to pay will “after several months” result in the liability being passed to a debt collecting agency. The agency will also not charge interest or fees and will only contact the consumer via phone calls, email or post, rather than in person, according to Klarna.

Klarna said the consumer was never required to repay more than the original purchase price, though their credit rating could be affected if the matter was passed to a debt collecting agency. It pointed out that defaulting on any payment liability, such as a phone bill, could harm a consumer’s credit rating.

The app makes its money by charging retailers a “small fee for each transaction”. For non-integrated retailers, the fee is equivalent to that attached to accepting debit or credit card payments, according to a Klarna spokesman.

The minimum transaction value to use Klarna is £30.

Pictures of the Klarna signage at a B&M store front emerged this week in a tweet by Alex Gunn.