Deutsche Bank is extending its partnership with Klarna to add new merchant acquiring services that will enable businesses to accept MB Way and Bizum, two of the largest local payment methods in Southern Europe (Portugal and Spain). With this expansion of their services via Klarna’s platform, merchants will now have access to both traditional local payment methods as well as Klarna’s service offerings.
Image source: Klarna
Deutsche Bank first posted about this expansion on LinkedIn and it continues to demonstrate Deutsche Bank’s commitment to growing its merchant acquiring business throughout Europe. The announcement highlights how the partnership is evolving beyond traditional payment acceptance to include leading regional payment schemes.
Klarna will now be able to provide merchants serving consumers in Portugal and Spain with access to local payment options that have become entrenched in the local e-commerce market due to the integration of Deutsche Bank’s acquiring capabilities for MB Way and Bizum. Merchants can now offer customers a checking experience that reflects their local preferences instead of solely using international card networks.
Additionally, this recent partnership fits into Klarna’s long-term business strategy of becoming a full-service commerce and payment platform. While Klarna is still primarily recognized for its buy now pay later service, the company has been gradually expanding its services to include payments processing, digital banking, consumer accounts, cards, and an ever-increasing array of checking out options. Supporting additional local payment methods further increases the flexibility of its platform for merchants operating across multiple European markets.
Merchants benefit from enhanced acquiring capabilities that allow them to use existing platform integrations to accept payments from wider local (national) markets. Consumers can enjoy easier access to regularly used local payment options at the global level in return. The combined partnership also exemplifies a current trend of merchants within European countries looking to adopt both local and international methods of payments. Many of these solutions are built around instant bank transfers and A2A payments, responding to growing demand for faster, locally preferred ways to pay.
MB Way, operated by Portuguese payments provider SIBS, has become one of Portugal’s most popular digital payment services, enabling online, in-store and peer-to-peer transactions through linked bank accounts. Bizum has established a similarly strong position in Spain, where it is widely used for both person-to-person transfers and online retail payments through participating banks.
For Deutsche Bank, the collaboration builds on its strategy of expanding merchant acquiring capabilities across Europe. Last year, the bank became the first international bank to offer Bizum acceptance for corporate merchants in Spain.
In response to the expanded collaboration, Kilian Thalhammer, Global Head of Merchant Solutions at Deutsche Bank, said: “Extending our client relationships through a strategic dialogue and innovative products is part of our DNA, strengthening long-standing partnerships, particularly within this key client segment.”
As merchants continue to operate across multiple European markets, the ability to support country-specific payment preferences through a single platform is becoming an increasingly important aspect of digital commerce infrastructure.
