2023 Spending decoded: Klarna’s Money Story guides smarter budgeting

Klarna, the AI powered global payments network and shopping assistant, is bringing back Money Story in the Klarna App, revealing consumers’ personal spending summaries of 2023. How did you decide to spend your hard earned cash, and what can you learn from it for the new year? Money Story offers a snapshot into your spending patterns while inspiring new ways to budget, save, and shop smarter.

This year, the top financial New Year’s resolutions for US consumers included paying off credit card debt, creating a budget, and saving money. According to Klarna’s 2023 Holiday Survey, 65% of US consumers planned to stick to a holiday budget surrounding the biggest shopping season of the year. With Money Story, consumers can unlock their spending insights by discovering their peak spending months, top purchases of 2023, and categories they purchased the most in that they can convert into financial goals for 2024 using Klarna’s money management tools.

Money Story includes data from all spending with Klarna, such as purchases made with the Klarna App, the Klarna Card and at partnered retailers’ checkouts. In 2023, one of the top categories on consumers’ global shopping lists was Clothing & Shoes followed by Leisure Sport & Hobby in the US. Additionally, the month consumers spent the most shopping across markets was November, in line with peak holiday season.

“With Money Story, we aim to make financial wellness more approachable for millions of consumers worldwide,” said Erin Jaeger, Head of North America, Klarna. “By gamifying a typically tedious and daunting task of managing finances, we hope to inspire users to take control of their finances and optimize their spending in 2024 and beyond.”

In order to help consumers translate the insights from their Money Story into smart spending habits, each user’s insights include prompts to discover and use Klarna’s money management tools, such as setting and tracking a monthly budget, and on which categories, and more. The number of people who have set a budget or updated their budget globally in the Klarna App has increased by 68% YOY, suggesting the importance of this feature for consumers looking to shop smarter. By offering money management tools alongside Klarna’s shopping features, including price comparison, exclusive deals, delivery tracking and more, consumers can feel empowered to make more informed decisions across the entire shopping journey.

Catering to over 37 million consumers and 7 million monthly app users in the US, Money Story supports Klarna’s mission to help consumers save time, money, and worry less about their finances by better understanding their spending and creating smart budgeting goals for the new year. Money Story is currently available in the