Klarna applied to establish an FDIC-insured bank in Utah, a move beyond its BNPL roots that would let it run its own American banking subsidiary if approved. Charter approval would let Klarna fund loans with customer deposits, expand into traditional banking products, and pull more of its payments, lending, and merchant operations in-house, reducing its dependence on third-party banking partners. Klarna’s filing follows conditional approval earlier this year for fintech Mercury to launch its own bank, part of a broader move by fintechs to own charters rather than lean on partner banks for the deposits and control that come with them.
