Ant Financial Services Group, the firm behind the Alipay mobile wallet, has acquired a minority stake in Klarna, a Stockholm-based firm that offers installment financing through e-commerce retailers and for point-of-sale purchases. 

The companies did not release a purchase price, but Klarna confirmed that the investment was less than 1%. In terms of valuation, the investment represents a slight uptick to the $460 million round in August 2019, which valued Klarna at $5.5 billion, a spokesperson said. 

The investment furthers an existing relationship between Klarna and Alipay as well as the affiliate Alibaba ecosystem. Under the existing relationship, customers of AliExpress can use Klarna's pay-later program.

"For too long, consumers have had to endure non-intuitive, boring and overly complex services when shopping both online and offline," Sebastian Siemiatkowski, CEO of Klarna, said in a company release. "At the heart of this cooperation between Klarna and Alipay is a shared ambition of innovating truly superior shopping experiences and creating destinations of inspiration for consumers across the world."

 Cover image: Klarna