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As Americans grapple with $1.23 trillion in credit card balances, Klarna Group is introducing a new way to access premium rewardsone that doesnt require a credit card at all. The Swedish fintech company launched its Premium ($19.99/month) and Max ($44.99/month) membership tiers in the United States on Thursday, expanding upon its existing Core and Plus offerings and mirroring successful rollouts in the UK and EU. The move positions Klarna squarely in the territory long dominated by high-end credit cards like the Amex Platinum and Chase Sapphire Reserve, but with none of the spending thresholds, APRs, or annual fees that usually define that segment. The timing is strategic: Americans, especially affluent Americans, are increasingly walking away from traditional credit cards and leaning into debit-first financial tools and buy now, pay later (BNPL) options. According to Klarna, 11.2% of U.S. adults cancelled a credit card in the past 12 months, and that jumps to 15.1% among people earning more than $100,000. Nearly one in three high-income consumers (30%) now use BNPL as one of their preferred payment methods. That shift was central to how Klarna designed these new tiers. Affluent consumers are growing tired of the overspend-to-earn dynamics of traditional credit cards and the eye-watering annual fee that comes with them, said David Sandström, chief marketing officer at Klarna. They want premium benefits without carrying a balance, chasing categories, or navigating fine print.” Klarna’s new tiers, he adds, offer “transparent pricing, month-to-month subscriptions, immediate access to meaningful perks they will actually use, and no requirement to take on debt.” A Premium Ecosystem Without Credit Traditional premium rewards in the U.S. have been dictated by the major card networks and issuers. Klarnas pitch is that the entire system can be rebuilt for consumers who dont want debt in exchange for access. The legacy premium card model assumes youll spend more to earn more, Sandström said, adding, “Were redefining premium by reinventing the economics, not replicating the incumbents playbook. That means U.S. members can access benefits typically found behind $500+ ins annual fees, including travel protection, lounge access, cash back, and subscription bundles, without needing a credit line or hitting a spending minimum. With more than one million Core and Plus signups in the U.S. over the past two months alone, the appetite appears strong. Building a Global Rewards Network One standout feature is Klarnas ability to convert earned cashback directly into points or miles across major loyalty programs. Its the kind of benefit usually restricted to premium cardholders, but now available to debit-based and BNPL users. We focused first on scale and consumer relevance, Sandström said of Klarnas partner strategy. Airlines like United, British Airways, Air FranceKLM, and Turkish Airlines and hotel groups like IHG, Accor, Radisson, and Wyndham serve the widest range of global travelers. They also integrate cleanly with cashback conversion, allowing members to unlock value immediately. Well continue expanding across regions and loyalty ecosystems to give consumers more choice and deeper travel utility. This partner ecosystem, built on cash back rather than credit spend, further distinguishes Klarnas model from the legacy rewards system. Making the Value Impossible to Miss Klarna claims Premium and Max unlock between $3,000 and $5,000 in annual perks, ranging from subscriptions (Vogue, GQ, Headspace, ClassPass, The New York Times, Care.com) to travel coverage and concierge-style offerings. But the company knows consumers are rightfully skeptical in a world filled with subscriptions and fine print. Sandström argues that Klarna deliberately built transparency into the product experience. Members can track benefits unlocked, used, and saved directly in the app, ensuring the value is transparent, not theoretical,” he said. “Because perks activate instantly and deliver tangible savings, Premium and Max counter subscription fatigue: you use it once and feel the impact immediately. Klarna Card: The Physical Anchor for a Digital-First Strategy The new tiers are available to any U.S. consumer, but Klarna expects the Klarna Card, its fast-growing debit product, to become a key touchpoint. The Klarna Card is core to our U.S. and our global strategy, Sandström said. With over four million signups since July, its one of our fastest-growing products ever.” The Premium and Max tiers each offer a 16g metal card, continuing a trend among financial products that blur the lines between banking utility and lifestyle branding. Premium vs. Max: Two Paths Into Klarnas New Rewards Ecosystem Klarnas two new top-end tiers, Premium and Max, are designed to meet different levels of travel frequency, lifestyle needs, and appetite for perks, but both operate under the same promise: predictable pricing and immediate value. Premium, priced at $19.99 per month, is tailored for consumers who want meaningful upgrades to their everyday spending without committing to an expensive annual fee. Members receive more than $3,000 in yearly value, including access to a rotating catalog of premium subscriptions. Premium users also earn 1.5% cash back when they pay from their Klarna balance, and receive global travel protection for trips booked throughout the year. Max, at $44.99 per month, pushes the concept further and is clearly aimed at the frequent traveler who might otherwise carry an Amex Platinum or Chase Sapphire Reserve. Klarna estimates that the plan delivers more than $5,000 in annual perks, anchored by unlimited airport lounge access through LoungeKey, which reaches more than 1,800 lounges worldwide. Max members earn 2% always-on cash back, gain access to elevated travel, rental cars, and cancel-for-any-reason protections, and unlock a broader suite of subscriptions, including the exclusive social and travel community ASmallWorld. The tiers signature accessory is a rose-gold 16-gram metal card, designed to mirror the tactile satisfaction of high-end credit cards without tying the experience to a revolving line of credit. Together, Premium and Max create a rewards ecosystem that looks familiar, but operates on entirely different economics. Klarnas approach reframes perks as something to subscribe to rather than earn, untangling them from spending thresholds and debt. The Future of RewardsWithout Credit Sandström believes that American consumers are ready for a shift and that the traditional systems dependency on credit lines is nearing its expiration date. In five years, credit-dependent rewards will feel outdated, he said. Consumers will expect transparent value without annual fees, debt traps, or points systems that only work for heavy spenders.” “Membership-style rewards will replace bloated card programs,” Sandström predicts. “Klarna intends to lead that shift.”
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E-Commerce
Fifty-two-year-old Dinam Bigny sank into debt and had to get a roommate this year, in part because of health insurance premiums that cost him nearly $900 per month.Next year, those monthly fees will rise by $200 a significant enough increase that the program manager in Aldie, Virginia, has resigned himself to finding cheaper coverage.“I won’t be able to pay it, because I really drained out any savings that I have right now,” he said. “Emergency fund is still draining out that’s the scary part.”Bigny is among the many Americans dependent on Affordable Care Act marketplace health insurance plans who are already struggling with the high cost of health care, according to a new survey from the health care research nonprofit KFF.Most of the more than 1,300 enrollees surveyed in early November say they anticipate that their health costs will be impacted next year if Congress doesn’t extend expiring COVID-era tax credits that help more than 90% of enrollees pay for health insurance premiums, per KFF. The possibility of an extension looks increasingly unlikely.The enhanced premium tax credits set to expire at the end of this year have been at the center of recent tensions in Congress, with Democrats calling for a straight extension and several Republican lawmakers vehemently opposed to the idea. Their inability to agree on a path forward fueled a record 43-day government shutdown earlier this fall.President Donald Trump and some Republicans in Congress have circulated proposals in recent weeks to offer a short-term extension or reform the Affordable Care Act, but no plan has emerged as a clear winner. Meanwhile, the window for Americans to shop for next year’s plans is well underway with less than a month to go until the subsidies expire.KFF’s poll reveals that marketplace enrollees most of whom say they would be directly impacted by the subsidies expiring overwhelmingly support an extension. The survey found this group is more likely to blame Trump and Republicans in Congress than Democrats if the tax credits are left to expire. Enrollees already find it challenging to afford health expenses The expiration of the tax credits which a separate KFF analysis found will more than double monthly payments for the average subsidized enrollee comes as Americans are already overwhelmed by high health expenses, the poll shows.About 6 in 10 Affordable Care Act enrollees find it “somewhat” or “very” difficult to afford out-of-pocket costs for medical care, such as deductibles and copays. That exceeds the roughly half of enrollees who find it challenging to afford health insurance premiums. Most also say they could not afford a $300 per year increase in their health insurance costs without significantly disrupting their household finances.Cynthia Cox, a vice president of KFF who leads the organization’s ACA research, said the population of Americans on Affordable Care Act health insurance includes some high-earning entrepreneurs and small business owners, but the bulk of enrollees are lower-income and therefore vulnerable to even small increases in health costs.“These are often going to be people who are living paycheck to paycheck, who have volatile or unpredictable incomes as well,” she said. “Increases that many of them are facing are going to be some sort of financial hardship for them.” Most enrollees see cost increases on the horizon Slightly more than half of Affordable Care Act marketplace enrollees believe their health insurance costs will increase “a lot more than usual” next year, according to the poll. About another 4 in 10 anticipate increases that will be “a little more than usual” or “about the same as usual.”Larry Griffin, a 56-year-old investment banker and financial adviser in Paso Robles, California, already pays $920 a month for his gold-level health plan through the state’s insurance marketplace. He says that price will go up to about $1,400 a month next year alongside jumps in copays and his annual out-of-pocket maximum.He’s concerned the increases will affect his ability to save money for his upcoming retirement, but with the recent amputation of his left leg below the knee, as well as other health issues, he said he can’t risk going off health insurance or downgrading his plan.Griffin is among the roughly three-quarters of marketplace enrollees who say health insurance is “very important” for their ability to access the health care they need.“I’m not going to say that I can’t manage it, I can, but it’s just another one of those things,” he said. “Here’s, you know, knock number 5,000 against me after all of the other things I’ve had to deal with.”Patricia Roberts, 52, a full-time caregiver for her daughter in Auburn, Alabama, expects her monthly health insurance premiums to rise from around $800 a month to $1,100 a month next year costs she can manage. But her friends across the border in Georgia are staring down doubling monthly fees next year.“I don’t know how people are going to live, with it already being a struggle just to pay for food and all the other things,” Roberts said. Support for an extension stretches across political parties The poll shows allowing the enhanced tax credits to expire would be overwhelmingly unpopular with current marketplace enrollees.Support for continuing the tax credits extends across party lines. Nearly all Democrats and about 8 in 10 independents who are enrolled in marketplace plans say the credits should be extended, as do about 7 in 10 Republicans. Support is similarly high among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents who support the MAGA movement, and those who don’t.Yvette Laugier, 56, a Republican in Chicago, said while her income is too high to qualify her for the enhanced premium tax credits, she supports extending them temporarily with additional fraud protections to give lower-income enrollees more time to consider their options.Among those who think Congress should extend the credits, about 4 in 10 say Trump would deserve “most of the blame” if they were allowed to expire and roughly one-third say that about Republicans in Congress. Democrats in Congress are much less likely to receive blame: only 23% of enrollees say they would deserve the bulk of responsibility.Bigny, in Virginia, said the blame should be split between both Democrats and Republicans. But he has hope they can come to a compromise and potentially a temporary extension in the coming weeks.“They should just sit and really look for what’s best for American people overall,” he said. Swenson reported from New York. Ali Swenson, Linley Sanders and Amelia Thomson-Deveaux, Associated Press
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E-Commerce
Since Pantone began naming its Color of the Year in 2000, weve seen two flavors of both brown and yellow, three variations of purple, blue, and turquoise, and four distinct takes on orange. But for the first time ever, Pantones color is essentially a non-color. Or you could call it every color. Pantones 2026 Color of the Year is a white. In Pantone language, thats code 11-4201aka Cloud Dancer. Pantonewhich operates somewhere between a trend forecaster and social psychologistargues that Cloud Dancer is part of a great cultural reboot. In the era of AI, everything feels like its changing on a daily basis, and the overstimulation of the internet is only increasing as we go. Cloud Dancer is a liminal space as we enter an unforeseeable new era. Savoring the physical world, its intentionally closer to the white of a piece of paper than an impossibly glowing, AI prompt box. [Photo: Pantone] Were trying to frame this [era] in a more positive way, looking at this as a transitional time, because it really is, says Laurie Pressman, VP at the Pantone Color Institute, who notes the color is a blank slate opening the door to creativity and innovation. The word “cloud” refers to not just Cloud Dancer’s color, but also its real world texture. Often presented in voluminous textiles, on the runway and in living rooms, its literally meant to nod to a puffy cloud in the sky. Its an almost synaesthetic sensation thats a counterpoint to the other cloud: dead, unseen data centers answering our intangible queries. [Image: Pantone] Take the psychology for what you will. Functionally, though, Cloud Dancer also serves a practical purpose within design aesthetics. Pressman points out that its timeless and genderless, and that it works blown out all on its own or with a wider array of colors beside it. On one hand, of course thats all true! Its white! On the other, Cloud Dancer is a very specific white: One that balances warm and cool tones in equal measure. (Note: in many real world examples that Pantone shared, Cloud Dancer appears less gray than it does on the swatch.) That means Cloud Dancer can fit with about any color palette you toss at it. Its not a white that will leave you squinting, guessing, and regretting. Its visual tofu, there to absorb the colors around it. [Photo: Joybird/courtesy Pantone] In an internet-driven cultural ticker where all tastes live side-by-side at once, and no single color is really in or out anymore for all that long, Cloud Dancer serves as a universal binder. Its the mortar for wider color expression, as effective on a blinding sneaker collab as a tranquil bedroom set. But is white even a color? Critics may complain that, of all colors, Pantone chose white. Its a non-color. Is that a cop out? You might also have noticed some thematic overlap with the quiet luxury movement. Peaking some time circa 2023, fashion brands embraced neutrals, like Cloud Dancer and Pantones previous color of the year, Mocha Mousse, equating simplicity with style. [Photo: Pantone] When I point this out, Pressman nods along, noting that its synergy with quiet luxury was a point of discussion on the team. The difference, she says, is not so much the use of such a white, but the intent underlying it. Quiet luxury masked affluence behind understated hues. (Or, perhaps you might say it performatively masked affluenceoffering a wink and nod to those in the know.) Instead, Pressman argues that Cloud Dancer is more about creating a tabula rasa in an era of uncertainty. Indeed, the white has been ontrend on runwaysbut not in some subdued apologetic way. From Jennifer Lawrences Dior at the Governors Ball, to Rosalía claiming white like a cleansing counterpoint to Charlie XCXs Brat green, its been used as a celebratory statement. A new collaboration between Moncler and Jil Sander makes a strong case for winter white, according to W. [Photo: 3M/courtesy Pantone] No doubt it helps that white has long been a shortcut, like black, to casually bolstered taste. We see that in how white button-downs and court shoes (along with every iteration of low white sneaker) has become a staple in wardrobes for years. Whiteand specifically puffy, textured bouclérefuses to leave high end living rooms. [Photo: Hasbro/courtesy Pantone] Likewise, Pantone is announcing new collabs with both Post-it and Play-Doh that feel like a cheat code to elevating taste. Each respective product will be offered in Cloud Dancer. Seeing these colorful, iconic products stripped of their hues is actually arresting. They get a sudden modernist makeover, feeling at-home next to a foam board architecture model. (Huh, maybe white is a color after all!) I think the white works in these creative contexts because its being presented as a blank construction material, offering an invitation to craft in an era of automation. The color name . . . speaks to this whole feeling of gazing into the clouds, says Pressman, and wondering what are the possibilities of what’s out there?
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E-Commerce
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