Wirecard Teams With Oney For Retail Payments; Klarna’s Pay Later Comes To Gymshark

Welcome to The Axis, your late look at payments news from around the world. Coverage includes Wirecard’s collaboration with Auchan Retail Romania for the Well.com app. ABBA The Museum recently began to offer Alipay, Klarna’s Pay later has become available to Gymshark customers in the U.K. and the Nordics, and Paysafe unveiled a new point of integration that taps into a software application programming interface (API) that is on display at ICE London.

Wirecard is collaborating with Auchan Retail Romania’s banking and financial arm, Oney, to implement a mobile app called Well.com in Romania, Wirecard said in an announcement. Through the app, which enables authentication by fingerprint, shoppers will be able to make payments in more than 30 Auchan locations in the country. The mobile app is available for iOS and Android. Oney Bank Romania Director General Jean-Michel Goncalves said in the announcement, “Payment methods are continuously improving, and we would like Romanian customers to experience the latest technologies.”

And in Sweden, Stockholm’s ABBA The Museum has begun to offer Alipay, Xinhua reported. With the payments offering, guests at the attraction can use their mobile phones to purchase tickets and shop. The report noted that the museum noticed a rise in the number of tourists from China in recent years. ABBA The Museum Director Caroline Fagerlind told the outlet that the “Chinese market is very important to us, and we’d like to bring Chinese visitors closer to ABBA music and Swedish culture … this is a very large and important step for us.”

In other payments news from Europe, Klarna and Gymshark said on Thursday (Feb. 7) that Gymshark customers in the Nordics and the U.K. can use Klarna’s Pay later service. The service will allow consumers to try out items at home “before parting with a single penny” and keep the items that they like. Klarna UK Commercial Director Russ Carroll said in the announcement, “Our partnership with Gymshark is a natural fit. We both share the same vision of giving shoppers more control over what they order and when they pay — ensuring they get the right fit and look for their workout needs.”

On another note, Paysafe unveiled a new point of integration that taps into a software application programming interface (API), iGaming Business reported. The solution, which is on display at ICE London, can reportedly be used by U.S. iGaming operators and comes with a business portal, as well as a “hosted checkout.” Paysafe Chief Product Officer Karim Ahmad said, according to the outlet, “Players want payment options which are seamless and secure, and which they don’t notice. Whether it’s traditional payments, digital alternatives or future innovations, it needs to be effortless.”