At Klarna’s big employee conference last week in Stockholm, CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski swapped spreadsheets for a rap performance and then confronted a sobering reality. Even as Klarna basks in its $15 billion IPO, chairman Michael Moritz warned staff of a rival: “We are 10 years behind Revolut.”
The Swedish fintech gathered about 3,000 employees in Stockholm for the convention, which featured keynote speeches, workshops, and team-building activities aimed at celebrating the company’s recent milestones and boosting employee engagement.
Siemiatkowski kicked off its “Smoooth week” with a lip-sync performance of a rap about Klarna, according to two current employees who spoke on condition of anonymity since they were not authorized to speak publicly.
The Klarna chief also spoke about the company’s recent IPO milestone and the flood of congratulatory messages he had received. Among them was a stark text message from chairman Michael Moritz, which was displayed on a screen at the venue in Stockholm.
According to a photo of the displayed message seen by Business Insider, Moritz told Siemiatkowski, “Sebastian. As we celebrate 20 years, we need to remember we are 10 years behind Revolut.”
Klarna declined to comment.
Founded in 2015, Revolut is a British neo-bank with over 52 million customers. What started as a prepaid foreign exchange card has rapidly grown into a wide-ranging financial platform, covering everything from banking and savings to investing, crypto, insurance, and business accounts. The company is now working toward its goal of becoming a full-service global bank.
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While Klarna is a licensed bank in Sweden, its activities are largely limited to payments and short-term lending. But it launched a US debit card pilot in June to venture into traditional banking and lay the foundation for its “super app” ambitions.
Klarna now has about 111 million users, and the vast majority of its business comes from the merchant-funded zero-percent interest financing it offers customers, Siemiatkowski told CNBC earlier this month. He also noted that Klarna sees a significant opportunity to disrupt the US credit card market.
Klarna went public on the New York Stock Exchange earlier this month, raising about $1.37 billion. The offering valued the Swedish fintech at $15 billion.
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The Revolut USA Prepaid Visa® and Prepaid Mastercard® are issued by Metropolitan Commercial Bank pursuant to a license from Visa U.S.A. Inc. for Visa cards, and Mastercard International for Mastercard cards, and may be used everywhere Visa or Mastercard are accepted. Banking services are provided by Metropolitan Commercial Bank, Member FDIC, and are subject to the terms of a Cardholder Agreement. “Metropolitan Commercial Bank” and “Metropolitan” are registered trademarks of Metropolitan Commercial Bank © 2014. A note from Metropolitan Commercial Bank: Funds in your Revolut Prepaid Card Account are held at an FDIC insured institution. Your funds will be held at or transferred to Metropolitan Commercial Bank, an FDIC-insured institution. While there, your funds are insured up to $250,000 by the FDIC in the event Metropolitan Commercial Bank fails if specific deposit insurance requirements are met and your card is registered. See fdic.gov/deposit/deposits/prepaid.html for details. FDIC insurance does not protect your funds in the event of Revolut’s failure or from the risk of theft or fraud. See Terms & Conditions for details. Revolut is a financial technology company. Banking services provided by Metropolitan Commercial Bank, Member FDIC.
