PayPal Bank 📱👉🏦; Klarna bets big on becoming the data backbone of AI-powered shopping 📊🛍️🤖

FinTech is Eating the World, 17 December

Hey Everyone,

Good morning & happy Wednesday! Today, we’re focusing on two of the biggest shifts happening in the financial technology sector right now. We’re going to look into finance giant PayPal transitioning into banking (what PayPal Bank is all about, why it matters & what opportunities will it unlock + bonus deep dive into PayPal’s latest financials and their agentic commerce ambitions inside), and BNPL pioneer Klarna, which is now betting big on becoming the ultimate data backbone for AI-powered shopping (what their Agentic Product Protocol is all about, how it stacks into the AI-powered tech stack, what to expect next + bonus deep dive into Klarna, Stripe and their ambition to own the full AI payments stack & 25 most interesting AI startups from 2025 and their pitch decks inside). So let’s jump straight into the finnovative & agentic stuff 🌶️

PayPal Bank 📱👉🏦

The news 🗞️ FinTech pioneer PayPal PYPL 0.00%↑ has just filed applications with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Utah Department of Financial Institutions to establish PayPal Bank, a Utah-chartered Industrial Loan Company.

At the core, this move marks a decisive pivot away from the payments giant’s long-standing asset-light strategy and positions the company to compete more directly with traditional financial institutions.

Let’s take a look at this, see why it could be huge, and what’s next for PayPal.