Klarna, a major global payments provider and bank, has announced that it’s hopping on board with AWS (Amazon Web Services) as its preferred cloud provider.
The Swedish bank, which has been going since 2005, says it has chosen AWS for its agility and speed in facilitating the delivery of new services to customers, while still maintaining a tight ship on the security front.
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Klarna has already used AWS to drive innovation in a swift manner. As the company notes, a recent example includes the launch of a platform that allows consumers to purchase goods from a merchant and benefit from the ability to pay later (in four equal instalments – with zero interest, or fees).
Going all-in with AWS on the cloud front means that the plan is to leverage Amazon’s many cloud services in the future to “develop new, flexible payment services that will help consumers maintain full control of their finances and help merchants create frictionless payment solutions”, Koen Koppen, CTO of Klarna, observes.
That includes following up the launch of Klarna’s cloud-based ‘open banking platform’ and its ‘customer authentication platform’ with further on-demand services delivered via AWS.
Machine learning chops
Furthermore, Klarna announced its intention to use AWS machine learning services – like Amazon SageMaker – to help merchants train and benefit from machine learning models which can capably manage risk, forecast future economic trends, and even predict credit scores in real-time.
Klarna also noted that AWS would not just help it maintain the highest security standards, in order to protect the customer’s vital data, but also to deliver on the regulatory compliance front.
Andy Isherwood, Managing Director, AWS, EMEA, commented: “We have worked with Klarna for over a decade and it has been inspiring to see them grow from a Swedish startup to a global financial services powerhouse, using the secure, proven infrastructure of AWS.
“We look forward to continuing to work alongside them as they leverage the breadth and depth of AWS services to develop technologies never before seen in the financial services space and as they delight customers around the world.”
Klarna has some 60 million customers, and supports 170,000 merchants across 17 countries currently. Those merchants include the likes of Adidas, Nike, IKEA and Sonos.
Of course, AWS re:Invent 2019, Amazon’s big cloud computing conference, has kicked off today, as you may well be aware.
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