Klarna card & membership: earn up to 1.5% cashback and perks

The buy now, pay later provider has updated its cards, both debit and credit, alongside paid for tiers with perks

Klarna has changed the rules for its card offerings – scrapping the free credit card version and moving harder into the pay-for-perks model. Its memberships now always come with a fee, but paying more can get you benefits worth as much as £6,000 a year as well as the ability to split the cost of purchases.

But what’s included and is it worth the cost? We take a look.

Some articles on the site contain affiliate links, which provide a small commission to help fund our work. However, they won’t affect the price you pay or our editorial independence. Read more here.

What is the Klarna card?

Klarna lets you choose between a debit or a credit card for its memberships. The main difference is that with the credit card you pay monthly by default and with the debit card you pay instantly – with the money coming out of your Klarna balance, rather than a current account.

With the credit card you also get the option to spread the cost of your purchases through instalments instead of monthly and money is drawn from your available credit rather than your Klarna balance.

Of course, the cards also let you spend using Klarna anywhere, rather than just with retailers that have signed up to it.

It’s a Visa card, and you can apply for it via the Klarna app. You’ll get a digital card as well as a physical card included with all the credit options.

You won’t get an account number or sort code, and there’s no ability to set up things like standing orders and direct debits. It’s basically just for spending, though eventually Klarna wants to offer these extras and go for a full banking licence.

There are two ways to use the card. You can top up your Klarna account with funds, and spend as you would with any debit card. This is the default way to pay if you’re choosing the debit option.

You’ll manage deposits and monitor spending via ‘Klarna balance’, which is an e-money account. There’s also the option to set up auto-top ups, moving money from your connected account when the balance drops below zero.

It’s worth noting that money held in your account won’t be protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), though Klarna do need to have their own protections in place.

Or you can also apply for the classic Klarna buy now, pay later service to pay over three months for free, or longer with interest added. 

As with any Klarna BNPL option, this way to pay will require affordability checks.

What does the Klarna card cost?

The basic option for the card used to be free if you had the electronic version only – and only charged if you wanted to be issued with a physical card too.

That’s changing, with people who signed up to the old version being sent emails saying: “From 14 November, you’ll need a paid membership to continue using your Klarna credit card. Keep using your card anywhere Visa is accepted, online and in store, from as little as £4.99 a month.”

It’s unclear what’s happening with the digital-only debit card, although we know the free option for credit cards is being withdrawn, however at the time of writing “standard” option is “only available with the Klarna card” and lets you spend from your balance free – as well as use it fee free abroad. There’s no way to sign up for one on the Klarna app without a paid for membership.

There are four paid-for membership schemes for the Klarna card – Everywhere, Plus, Premium and Max. Each comes with a different monthly fee, but in return you can get access to things like cashback, subscriptions, an eSim and more – Klarna calculates you can get as much as £6,000 worth of benefits if you’re prepared to pay monthly subscriptions.

This is what the different membership options offer:

Klarna Everywhere

This is the most basic version – and what people who signed up for the free electronic credit card will be rolled onto if they choose to keep it.

• Cost: £4.99 a month 
• Physical and virtual Klarna Card
• Priority phone support
• No foreign exchange fees

Klarna Plus

A higher fee for Plus gets you cashback, mobile data and purchase and price protections.

• Cost: £9.99 a month 
• Physical and virtual Klarna Card
• 0.5% cashback
• x2 cashback at featured stores when you shop in the Klarna app
• Purchase and price protection
• 30 day best price guarantee
• 1GB of global data a month

Klarna Premium

Klarna claims that all the benefits are worth a staggering £3,600 a year – though you’ll be paying £215.88 a year to get them.

• Cost: £19.99 a month
• 1% cashback
• x3 cashback at featured stores when you shop in the Klarna app
• Global travel insurance  
• 16g metal card (silver or black)
• Subscription access to 14 sites and services
• 2GB of global data a month

Klarna Max

This one costs a lot more, but according to Klarna is worth £6,000 in benefits over 12 months.

• Cost: £44.99 a month
• 1.5% cashback
• x4 cashback at featured stores when you shop in the Klarna app
• Comprehensive travel, rental-car, and cancel-for-any-reason insurance 
• Unlimited airport lounge access worldwide via LoungeKey Pass (1,900+ lounges and travel experiences)
• Exclusive 16g rose gold metal card
• Subscription access to 18 sites and services
• 5GB of global data a month
• Free unlimited 5G data and 20GB global roaming data with Klarna Mobile
• 70% refund on trips and events cancelled at least 24 hours in advance

What is Klarna Price Drop Protection?

One perk that comes with Max and Premium is something called Price Drop Protection. If you see the exact same item, at the shop you bought it at, at a lower price withing 30 days of buying it, you can get the difference refunded into your Klarna account.

You’ll need evidence for this, such as a screenshot of the new price and your original receipt, and then you can file your claim using the Klarna app. 

How does the cashback work?

With the cashback offering, it’s only provided if you use your balance to pay.

Are Klarna memberships worth it?

As with any packaged account, there is the potential to save money. And with the Premium and Max tiers there are a lot of freebies and extras available via Klarna that would cost a lot if paid for separately.

But that’s only going to save you cash if you would normally pay for what’s on offer. And at first glance that’s a tall order for these Klarna memberships.

For a start the 0.5% cashback element can easily be beaten by other reward credit or debit cards on the Plus tier – and to get the membership fees back you’d need to spend close to £24,000 on the card over the year.

To make your monthly fees back on the Max subscription, you’d need to spend almost £36,000 at 1.5% cashback.

There are events that see the cashback double, triple or even quadruple at featured stores when you shop in the Klarna app, even then we’re talking thousands of pounds spent to cover your costs.

The included subscriptions are nice, but if you’re not paying for them already, it’s hard to say they’re something you need. However, as the box below shows, if you do already actually use a couple then there’s the opportunity to save.

If you need annual worldwide travel insurance, and would normally pay for this, then you can certainly factor this in, but it won’t be enough to justify the full £19 of Premium. And though Max adds in more coverage, I’d still suggest you look at other packaged account first. As ever you’ll want to check what is covered and what isn’t to be sure it meets your needs.

Max offers airport lounge access too, though you can also get that via the American Express Platinum card. That Amex comes in at £650 a year, which is £110 more than Klarna Max, but there are other features, including travel insurance and dining credit which could be better value – especially with the decent welcome offer.

The purchase protection and extended warranties, cancellation cover and mobile plans are all great, but also things that you’re likely to have already, don’t particularly need or can get as a bolt on to an existing deal for a few pounds.   

You’ll also be paying for the metal cards with Max and Premium, something I really can’t see the value in. Yes they’re nice, but I’d rather have the cash.

So overall I’d say hold tight for now, but it’s certainly one to watch.

You can see a full comparison of all that’s on offer with the different plans here.