News: CBA Commonwealth Bank says Klarna offers to waive merchant fees for 6 months

Aug 10 (Reuters) - Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) said on Tuesday buy now, pay later firm Klarna would waive fees for six months for the bank's merchants that integrate the Swedish firm's payment service.

The move comes as competition in the burgeoning interest-free credit lending space intensifies and firms vie for market share against industry bellwether Afterpay (APT) , which agreed to be bought by Square Inc SQ.N last week.

CBA, Australia's largest lender, holds a small stake in Klarna and offers a buy now, pay later (BNPL) product from the Swedish company in Australia.

The lender had in March announced its own BNPL service to take on U.S. giant PayPal Inc PYPL.O and Afterpay, promising to charge stores only the "standard merchant fees" that it does for credit cards.

"Retail has been under pressure from the persistent nature of the pandemic, and small businesses... have felt its impact most," said Camilla Giesecke, Klarna's chief expansion officer.

"We hope this will go some way in supporting their business in the short term, in the lead up to peak shopping season."