Buy now, pay later (BNPL) provider, Klarna, is being investigated by Sweden’s financial watchdog regarding a potential breach of banking secrecy laws.
The company is being probed over an IT incident that happened on May 27 of this year. For a 30 minute period, Klarna’s customers were able to see other user’s data — something the company has blamed on human error. Fortunately, customers’ payment details were not revealed during the incident.
“[We] will investigate whether Klarna has violated bank secrecy in connection with an IT incident in May where the bank’s customers were able to access information about each other for a limited time,” Sweden’s Financial Supervisory Authority “Finansinspektionen” said in a statement.
The probe “was very much expected as part of our regular dialogue with the Swedish FSA and as always we approach this with full cooperation and transparency,” a Klarna spokesperson said.
The watchdog plans to add the issue around bank secrecy to a more general survey into the company’s handling of information and cybersecurity risks.
