Payment Expert’s Fintech Unwrapped delivers the latest and developing news that has shaped the sector over the course of the week.
This week, Klarna is leveraging the popularity of Google Pay in the US to integrate its Buy Now, Pay Later capabilities at payment terminals, while American Express is offering its range of payment solutions and benefits to customers of a UK airline.
Klarna lands on Google Pay in US
Klarna became available on Google Pay for US shoppers on June 23, enabling Buy Now, Pay Later at select Android apps and websites which offer the digital payment method.
With Google Pay being one of the most popular digital wallets in the US – 48.59 million users in 2024 – Klarna is seeking to expand the usage of BNPL with its offerings for purchases over $35 across four fixed installments.
“Integrating with Google Pay marks a meaningful step in Klarna’s mission to bring flexible, transparent payments to where consumers already are,” said David Sykes, Chief Commercial Officer at Klarna. “Google Pay is already one of the simplest ways to pay – now, with Klarna on Google Pay, we’re adding even more choice and control at checkout.
“By teaming up with pay over time providers like Klarna, we are able to give Google Pay users more payment options when checking out, while providing merchants with another tool to drive growth,” added Ben Volk, VP and General Manager, Google Pay and Google Wallet.
Amex takes to the skies with Wizz Air
American Express announced on June 26 it will become a payment partner for all flight bookings and onboard purchases on Wizz Air, aiming to create greater payment flexibility.
Under the new agreement, Amex cardmembers can book flights or pay for services and onboard products using the AmexCard via the Wizz Air website and mobile app, along with gaining access to exclusive offers and discounts available via the Amex Offers platform.
This latest agreement with Wizz Air adds to Amex’s growing base of accepting merchants in the UK, joining a number of businesses in the UK that accept Amex, including major supermarket chains, high street retailers and small businesses.
“We are committed to ensuring our Cardmembers can use their Card wherever they live, work and travel. We’re delighted that American Express is now accepted by Wizz Air, one of Europe’s leading low-cost airlines,” said Dan Edelman, UK General Manager, Merchant Services at American Express.
GoCardless delivers Open Banking to FreeAgent
GoCardless enabled Open Banking payments for FreeAgent customers on June 26 as well as providing an AI automated payment tool to recover failed payments.
The Instant Bank Pay feature aims to offer more instant and secure payments by collecting funds directly from customers’ bank accounts, designed to reduce late payments and improve cash flow, in particular for one-off invoices.
FreeAgent has also added GoCardless’s AI-driven Success+ solution, which recovers two-thirds of failed payments on average, and applies machine learning to data from the millions of transactions GoCardless processes to identify the best time for payment retries.
“This collaboration will not only offer them a cheaper alternative to cards but also a way to collect more of their hard-earned money and prevent involuntary churn,” commented Tom Metcalfe, Director, UK&I Partnerships at GoCardless.
PingPong calls on Form3 for SEPA VoP compliance
In a bid to be regulatory compliant before SEPA Verification of Payee (VoP) becomes mandatory, PingPong has integrated Form3’s VoP solution.
Form3 announced on June 24 PingPong will use its VoP solution for SEPA account validation before the October 9, 2025 mandate as it seeks a competitive edge amongst its competitors to continue delivering embedded cross-border payments.
The VoP solution ensures PingPong is compliant with the Instant Payment Regulation for safer payments to the EU for PingPong’s clients, as well as enhanced protection against authorised push payment (APP) fraud.
“We’re very happy to be working with PingPong, one of the leading global cross-border payments platforms. As the VoP deadline is imminent, what we can offer customers such as PingPong is a proven product that features zero downtime, and is second-to-none when it comes to operational resiliency, said Mike Walters, CEO of Form3.
iGaming players gain real-time access to funds with Volt
Volt confirmed on June 26 it will provide its real-time Open Banking payment solutions for EPG Financial Services e-wallet paylado.
The solution offers a more streamlined account-to-account process by leveraging Volt’s Open Banking capabilities for iGaming customers in Germany to deposit and receive funds with paylado.
“From the moment we began speaking with EPG Financial Services, it became clear how closely our product capabilities align with their needs – and, despite only recently going live, we’re already talking about further ways of working together,” said Anna Gladka, Volt’s Business Development Director.
“Above all, the partnership is further evidence of the strength of our network and the onward customer experience that it facilitates.”
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