Klarna, a Swedish fintech unicorn, gets a full banking licence

BANKS moan incessantly about over- regulation. Yet their banking licences come with perks: in most places only licensed institutions can accept deposits and offer current accounts; within the EU, “passporting” means a bank licensed in one country may operate across the single market. So some European financial-technology (“fintech”) upstarts have started to seek banking licences. On June 19th, Klarna, a Swedish payments firm valued at $2.25bn, became the latest—and the largest so far—to get one.

Read more here: http://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21723857-fintech-firms-are-beginning-compete-head-banks-klarna-swedish-fintech