But doing so has always been more confusing for me compared to “regular” payments with a credit card anywhere else, and has on overall been a negative experience for me.
I really don’t understand why anyone would prefer to use them at all.
What am I missing? Can anyone help me understand?
Some banks used to require people to log into their banks to temporarily unlock their card for internet shopping, or, nowadays, one also needs to authenticate the purchase with the bank. That adds extra friction.
With Klarna one does not need to pay until 14 days after the goods are shipped. Credit cards are even better, but most people tend to just have a debit card. With Klarna they don't need to worry about spending too much money from the account and having some other payment bounce later on.
I personally stopped using them after I fell for one of their dark patterns and bought something on credit, which incurred an extra fee. Legally I was entitled to cancel the credit purchase, pay the full amount and avoid the fee; but I was still annoyed.