Markets swing amid August volatility
Klarna’s latest earnings report presented a mixed picture for investors. The company showed rapid growth in its card and subscription services but lowered its full-year outlook, causing shares to drop sharply.
Klarna expands card and subscription services
The Swedish fintech reported its Klarna Card now serves 6.5 million active users across 16 countries, up from 1.3 million a year earlier. Paying subscribers reached 2 million, an eightfold increase over the same period. These newer revenue streams—pay-in-full transactions, subscriptions, and larger-ticket financing—offer more ways to monetize the same customer base.
Klarna reduced its full-year GMV outlook to $149-$151 billion from more than $155 billion. The adjustment reflects weaker discretionary spending in Germany, its largest market. Shares fell more than 20% following the announcement.
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While the company’s expanding product suite diversifies revenue, it remains tied to the same shopping cycles that drive its core buy-now-pay-later model.
Visa and Mastercard bet on AI-driven payments
Visa and Mastercard joined the Agentic Payments Alliance, a new industry coalition that includes Fiserv, Circle, Solana, and Remitly. The group will establish standards for AI agents handling transactions, addressing identity, authorization, fraud, loyalty, and regulation.
The involvement of the two payments giants marks a shift in discussions about AI commerce. The focus has moved from whether AI agents can make purchases to who controls permissions, what limits apply, and who bears responsibility for errors. Their participation indicates the existing payments infrastructure is adapting to software acting on behalf of consumers.
Citi retools custody for a 24/7 financial system
Citi introduced Custody+, a suite of near- and real-time custody capabilities designed for compressed settlement cycles and continuous markets. The bank is also developing digital-asset custody on the same architecture, with bitcoin support expected later this year.
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Custody traditionally relied on batch processing and end-of-day cutoffs. Citi’s move reflects a broader shift toward a financial system that operates without pause. By unifying traditional and digital assets under one architecture, the bank treats crypto as another asset class rather than a separate layer.
PayPal and Venmo target tuition payments
PayPal and Venmo are expanding into tuition payments through integrations with Illumia, Nelnet Campus Commerce, and TouchNet. The platforms are already live at schools like Bellarmine, Butler, Kansas State, and Michigan State, with more institutions expected to follow.
Tuition represents a large, recurring payment often managed through fragmented systems. PayPal’s strategy aims to embed its wallets into institutional workflows rather than simply compete for another checkout transaction.
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Robinhood pushes for tokenized stocks
Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev is urging U.S. policymakers to update securities rules to permit tokenized stocks. He argues American investors should not miss out on infrastructure built around domestic assets. The company states its Robinhood Chain has processed 100 million transactions.
Klarna’s stock decline drew attention, but the week’s other developments reveal a quieter transformation. Payments companies are preparing for a world where transactions are faster, more automated, and deeply embedded in financial routines.
The trend is unmistakable. The Agentic Payments Alliance, Citi’s real-time custody platform, and PayPal’s tuition integrations all reflect the same shift. Infrastructure is being rebuilt to support a financial system that operates continuously.
