Klarna’s latest feature is a growth driver that further solidifies its ambition to become "Google for Shopping"🛍; FTX CEO to acquire Robinhood? 🤯; (Huge) Pan-African crypto exchange in the making 🚀

Good Morning FinTech, 16 May

Good morning Everyone,

And happy Monday! I hope you had some time to relax over the weekend as today is going to be hot in FinTech. From Klarna’s massive e-commerce ambitions to Robinhood’s potential takeover and emerging Pan-African crypto exchange, today’s 3 FinTech stories are something you just cannot miss. Let’s jump straight into them:

Klarna’s latest feature is a growth driver that further solidifies its ambition to become the Google for Shopping 🛍

The launch 🚀 Swedish buy now, pay later giant and one of the most valuable private FinTechs in the world Klarna has launched a virtual shopping tool, allowing consumers to shop online with the help of in-store experts.

More on this 👉 We must note that the Virtual Shopping feature builds on technology from Hero, which Klarna acquired last July. The solution was already live with 300 brand partners but now extends to Klarna’s base of more than 400,000 global merchants. Customers can access Virtual Shopping on retail websites, and merchants can connect their employees to these customers via the Klarna Store app.

The USP 🥊 With the new virtual shopping tool, consumers connect with an in-store expert by clicking the Virtual Shopping icon on participating retailers’ websites. From there, they can chat, receive photos and videos, follow product recommendations, and have a two-way video chat, mimicking the experience they would receive in-store.

What does it mean? At the core, this move by Klarna is all about boosting growth and further building on a quest to become the Google for Shopping. Here’s the takeaway: