The Dutch House of Representatives is considering the use of Klarna at gambling websites. Two motions were submitted to push for a ban on buy now, pay later options at legal online casinos. But what exactly is going on with this?
What is Klarna?
Klarna is a Swedish company that enables online payments under the motto “buy now, pay later”, making it possible to pay afterwards without extra costs or interest.
It is also possible to pay in installments, which allows you to pay off in smaller amounts over a certain period. Klarna is increasingly being added as a payment option at webshops.
Why specifically targeting this payment method?
Members of Parliament Esmah Lahlah (Groenlinks-PvdA), Mirjam Bikker and Don Ceder (ChristenUnie) took the initiative to take measures against the use of Klarna at gambling companies.
They submitted two motions to ban post-payment at legal casinos. But such methods are already banned and are therefore not offered at legal online casinos in the Netherlands. What do they base their motions on?
The motions focus on Klarna and the slogan behind their services. Namely: buy now, pay later. According to the members of parliament, this operation is worrying and poses a risk of developing gambling problems and financial difficulties. Therefore, the government is requested via both motions to intervene and ban such payment methods in all forms on gambling sites.
Motion names online casino Bet365
In one of the motions, the legal casino Bet365 is explicitly named as a provider, as it allows users to pay afterwards via Klarna. However, this is done via Sofort. This payment method falls under the parent company Klarna.
Sofort is an online payment method that allows customers to pay via their own banking environment. Sofort works via direct bank transfer and not via a deferred payment. Klarna has gained fame for being able to pay later, but “pay later” is not available at Bet365 or other legal providers.
What does the Remote Gambling Act say?
Since the Remote Gambling Act (Law Koa) was introduced on April 1st, 2021, online gambling has been legal in the Netherlands. And we read that it is prohibited for license holders to offer legal online gambling on credit. A so-called buy now, pay later option that is referred to is therefore already prohibited.
Similar situation in United Kingdom
We see a similar situation in the UK where there has also been a misunderstanding about the use of Klarna as a payment method at gambling site Betway. In 2021, a lot of commotion arose when a Twitter account shared a screenshot of Klarna as a payment method at this website. People thought that players could play on credit.
In the Netherlands, there was a stir after a video was posted on TikTok about Klarna as a payment method. But in the comments it was quickly pointed out that paying afterwards was not possible. This video has now been viewed hundreds of thousands of times, but Klarna is certainly not at fault here. The method with which they became very popular is clearly not applicable to online casinos.
Like Bet365 in the Netherlands, Betway offered the Klarna variant where payments are processed directly via bank transfer, without the option to pay later.