Walmart-Backed OnePay Expands Into Consumer Lending With Synchrony and Klarna
The fintech subsidiary is integrating credit cards and installment loans to build a comprehensive financial ecosystem for Walmart shoppers.
OnePay, the fintech subsidiary backed by Walmart and Ribbit Capital, is aggressively expanding its financial services ecosystem into consumer lending. The move signals a strategic shift to integrate traditional banking and credit products directly into the retail experience.
To anchor this expansion, OnePay has partnered with Synchrony to launch a comprehensive credit card program. The initiative will feature both general-purpose Mastercard and private-label cards specifically for Walmart purchases, with a scheduled rollout for Fall 2025. Additionally, OnePay has partnered with Klarna to provide buy-now, pay-later (BNPL) installment loans for U.S. shoppers, a move that saw Klarna replace Affirm in March 2025.
The Push for a Retail Ecosystem
Walmart has spent more than four years leveraging its massive customer base and its 1.6 million U.S. employees to build a cohesive financial infrastructure. By consolidating these services into a single digital app and wallet experience, the company is attempting to remove the friction between shopping and financing. This strategy allows Walmart to capture more of the customer journey, moving beyond the point of sale to manage the actual flow of credit and payments.
Disrupting Traditional Banking
By embedding lending and banking into the retail experience, Walmart is positioning OnePay to compete directly with traditional banks and neobanks. The scale of Walmart's user base allows it to disrupt the unit economics that typically challenge pure-play fintechs, which often struggle with high customer acquisition costs.
Industry analysts suggest this trajectory could lead to a "super-app" model similar to WeChat in the U.S. market. Karen Webster, CEO of PYMNTS, noted that the ability to connect purchases with offers and financing, backed by Walmart's scale of customer and supplier relationships, is unmatched by any retailer except for Amazon.
What to Watch
The immediate focus remains on the Fall 2025 rollout of the Synchrony credit cards and the integration of Klarna's installment loans. As OnePay continues to scale, the industry will be watching to see if the company expands its suite of services further into deposits or other banking products. While the current focus is on lending, the ultimate goal appears to be the creation of a closed-loop financial system that keeps Walmart customers within its digital ecosystem for every transaction.