I’d say SEPA is the European alternative. It’s been getting better and better at forcing banks to get their shit together in regards to quick money transfers.

SEPA direct debit should be a standard every shop offers. It’s quick, easy and customer friendly. I think its existence is the reason why PayPal took so long to gain a footing in Europe. The national versions of it were the standard way of paying for stuff over a distance.

Klarna is from Sweden, as far as I know. But their business practices don’t make them better than Paypal. Some years ago I had to use them as payment method for an item I bought online. Unfortunately, that item was not availiable anywhere else and this shop did not offer Paypal as a method of payment, other than credit card, which I don’t have. So I had to go through Klarna.

Klarna wants to coerce you into handing over your online banking credentials so that they can take care of the payment. That’s a big No-No. Luckily I was able to pay per invoice, meaning that I had to wire the money to Klarna by myself. Klarna does act in the same way as Paypal: when you buy an item online, Klarna pays up for it, but you have to reimburse them.

This is my experience with Klarna, which was in 2021. Your experience may differ.

Wero is starting in many countries to be a replacement for PayPal

GNU Taler might be an option in the future if the EU selects it for the digital euro:

https://taler.net/

Klarna is pretty sketchy…

First attempt to pay: “Instant bank transfer” (don’t know the English term). Klarna like this: pleasy enter PIN from your bank account…

Second attempt: ok, I’ll pay by “direct debit”. Klarna like this: listen here you little shit, give me the PIN from your bank account now…

I then ordered the stuff somewhere else.

Fun fact: when Klarna wasn’t so shit yet, I had once paid via purchase on account. A year later I wanted to buy something again, but the invoice was rejected due to insufficient creditworthiness. Jokers.