EXCLUSIVE – There’s an argument made in favor of keeping plastic cards and online shopping, but Swedish payment company Klarna is not on that side, based on its recent effort to rid customers of the need to use their cards online.

Klarna partnered yesterday with payments technology provider ACI Worldwide to bring this feature to ten markets, including the U.S.

Through ACI’s UP e-Commerce Payments API, Klarna can now enable businesses in these markets to provide consumers with Klarna’s “Pay later” and “Slice it” payment options.

These two options let consumers manage their payment terms, and do not require the consumer to use their card information at the point of checkout online. Instead, consumers can check out using their emails and postal codes.

The feature is beneficial from the merchants’ point of the view too, as Klarna takes on the credit risks associated with the transactions.

Based in Stockholm, Klarna is an e-commerce payments provider with a European banking license, granted to it last June.

The company has been making big strides since its founding in 2005. In fact, in September 2017, it was listed as the highest-funded fintech startup in Europe, receiving over $598 million in funding from the likes of Visa and U.S. venture capital firm Sequoia Capital to name a few (more on this here).

More recently, it partnered with another payments company, WorldPay, to provide its credit-based payment features to additional markets across Europe.

This partnership with both ACI and Worldpay is a part of the company’s overall growth strategy of expanding beyond its core Nordic markets.

Besides the U.S., the other nine markets where this ACI-powered Klarna solution is available in include the U.K., Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Germany, Austria, and the Netherlands.

In a statement emailed to FinAi News today, ACI Worldwide VP, Andy McDonald, said:

Consumers are looking for a seamless checkout experience when shopping online, and merchants want to deliver that experience in order to convert sales. Klarna is strongly positioned to deliver this, and by partnering with Klarna, we anticipate that its footprint will increase, especially in markets such as the UK and US where there is scope for growth and adoption of its payment methods. For ACI, a best-in-class integration of Klarna fits with our vision of delivering more ways to pay.

ACI is set to demo this Klarna solution next week at the NRF Retail’s Big Show in New York.

Learn more about digital payments and mobile banking at FinAi News 2018 in San Francisco on March 5-6. Request your invitation here.