Klarna Now Has a Mobile Phone Service. It's Yet Another New Wireless Option for You
Klarna, the Swedish buy-now-pay-later financial services company, is introducing a mobile phone plan the company says it will promote to its 25 million US customers.
Klarna is partnering with Gigs, a San Francisco company that provides mobile virtual network operator services, allowing companies to create their own wireless brands. MVNOs seem suddenly popular: In the last week, the Trump Organization launched Trump Mobile, with its own gold-tinted phone on the way. And the popular SmartLess podcast, featuring actors Jason Bateman, Will Arnett and Sean Hayes, also set up shop as a wireless provider.
Klarna's plan includes uncapped 5G plus service and international roaming for under $50 a month. Klarna will offer its wireless service using AT&T's infrastructure.
The company has opened a waitlist for the service, which it says will launch in a few weeks, with similar offerings in the UK and Germany on the way as well. Klarna says it will directly promote its wireless plan through its mobile app. Customers will be able to keep their mobile number and sign up for the service and manage their account within the Klarna app. Klarna promises there won't be fees for service activation or cancellation.
It also recently launched a debit card and partnered with DoorDash to allow installment payments on food orders.
What's next for MVNOs?
Don't be surprised if other new mobile businesses pop up this year. The overall industry for virtual network operators is expected to grow from about $87 billion to more than $148 billion in the next decade.
"It's relatively easy to launch an MVNO -- compared to other ventures a brand or celebrity might contemplate," says Iliya Rybchin, a mobile industry veteran who now works as a consultant for BDO USA, an accounting firm. "The economics have gotten much better in the last few years and there are many popular brands, celebrities, and influencers who may have the brand power to do it."
Those brands and celebrities who have large follower counts, he says, can use their popularity to help reduce one of the biggest costs for wireless companies: customer acquisition.
The possibility for new wireless ventures, based on conversations he's heard, could include sports teams, retailers, video games and auto companies, Some, he says, could launch non-phone services or products based on specific needs such as medical wearables or cloud storage.
Those contemplating launching an MVNO, he says, should ask themselves, "Is my brand strong enough and my fan base loyal enough to bring in a few hundred thousand subscribers?"
That seems to be the case, at least for the new service tied to the president: "In the case of Trump Mobile, thousands of people walking around holding a gold phone can be as powerful a brand asset as a red MAGA hat. Of course, even the launch alone generates millions of dollars of media value," Rybchin said.
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