The Australian firm, best known for financing online purchases, is rolling out interest-free, point-of-sale loans at cash registers that it says could help U.S. merchants boost flagging sales.
Shelter-in-place orders have given homeowners the time to pursue upgrades and repairs, and banks are seizing the opportunity to help finance the projects.
With coronavirus presenting significant challenges for retailers and the technical challenges of imposing interchange fee changes in the networks, Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover are holding off on the updates.
The Australian firm agreed to pay around $1 million in connection with allegations that it broke the law by operating without a license in the nation's largest state.
Firms such as Afterpay that offer financing to shoppers have been enjoying rapid growth. But their model is under scrutiny from regulators, being mimicked by credit card lenders and faces heightened risks in a downturn.
Brendan Coughlin, head of consumer banking, explains how Citizens established its relationships with Apple and Microsoft for point of sale financing and how they've evolved.
The fintech Sezzle received its license after agreeing to refund customers and pay a fine for previously making loans that state regulators had deemed illegal.
The United States could be the point-of-sale lender's largest market within two years, its CEO says. The firm's investors include BlackRock, Sequoia Capital and the rapper Snoop Dogg.
In a move to aid faster expansion and provide more security and regulatory compliance tools, Klarna Bank in Sweden is strengthening its longtime relationship with Amazon Web Services by making it the bank's preferred cloud provider.
