How does Klarna make money? Who pays in the UK, by product
Klarna says the retailer pays. Its UK pages, read 15 October 2026, show where shoppers pay too: late fees, Financing interest and a paid Card membership.
Is Klarna safe? We read its UK Buyer Protection terms, complaints page and the FCA's BNPL page: what is covered, what is excluded, who decides.
Read the storyKlarna says the retailer pays. Its UK pages, read 15 October 2026, show where shoppers pay too: late fees, Financing interest and a paid Card membership.
Klarna's UK help pages, read 8 October 2026, product by product: the check it runs, what it reports, what a late payment does, and where others differ.
Clearpay's UK help pages give each refund stage separately. Here they are in one timeline, from the retailer to the 10 business days back to your card.
The Clearpay complaint route in its own words: retailer first, then customer services by chat or phone, then the Financial Ombudsman Service.
Clearpay Plans have been regulated credit since 15 July 2026, but the FCA lists Clearpay in its temporary regime: not yet authorised. What that means.
No. Clearpay describes soft checks only, at sign-up and in affordability reviews. Its own help pages disagree on whether lenders see them; both quoted.
Clearpay's 15 July 2026 terms, read clause by clause: the purchase block, the £6 fees, the £24 cap, collection, credit-file reports and the complaint route
Clearpay's terms, re-issued 15 July 2026, say it may report missed payments to credit reference agencies. What its own pages say, read 11 September 2026.
Float launched in the UK in July as a card-linked instalment platform, splitting a purchase across monthly instalments on a card the shopper already holds. Assessed on paperwork: who the creditor is, which agreement governs the money, and where a complaint goes.
Starling's new assistant does not just answer questions about your account — it acts on it. Which makes the firm behind it, not the model inside it, the thing worth reading.
Every piece this site has run on BNPL regulation addresses someone signing a plan today. The regulator gives the other cohort two sentences. Assessed as a redress position, including the Handbook rule that closes the route back.
FCA survey findings published on 27 August 2026 put the figure at 32%. The interesting part is not the technology — it is how badly the edge of the safety net is understood.
A product sold on 'no late fees' and 'no hidden charges' carries a 14.9% representative APR and £11.50 of fees on its own £1,000 example. Assessed on disclosure rather than rewards.
The regulator now says Section 75 is available on regulated deferred payment credit. Assessed as a redress route: genuinely valuable where it reaches, and switched off entirely by two conditions a shopper cannot see at the checkout.
ClearScore, Modulr, Teya, Urban Jungle and Zilch have been given tailored regulatory support. That is a very different thing from a regulator's verdict on a firm, and the difference is worth stating plainly.
The feature lists are excellent and largely interchangeable. Assessed on the question they answer least clearly: which entity holds your money, and what protects it.
A transitional regime is a sensible way to regulate a live market. It also means the register entry a consumer looks up does not mean what they assume it means.
Before 15 July 2026 a dissatisfied BNPL customer had the firm's goodwill and little else. Assessed on what the new route provides and where it still runs out.
Regulation Day brought affordability requirements, the Consumer Duty and ombudsman access to buy-now-pay-later. It did not, on day one, make every firm fully authorised.