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May 25, 2021
On the wires
PayPal Turns to Arkose Labs for Online Fraud and Abuse Protection on Honey Platform
“Arkose Labs , provider of online fraud and abuse prevention technology, today announced a collaboration with PayPal to prevent security threats and fight fraud on its Honey shopping and rewards platform. Honey by PayPal is a suite of free tools to help people save time and money when shopping online. From notifying shoppers when a price drops on select items, to helping them find the lowest price, Honey provides shoppers with the information that they need to shop with confidence. Honey has helped millions of people find more than $1 billion in savings in the past year.”
May 14, 2021
On the web
PayPal to Buy Online Returns Start-up in Its Latest Run at the Retail Shopping Space
CNBC
“PayPal is making another acquisition in the e-commerce space as it moves beyond payments and into physical and online retail. The digital payments giant announced a deal to acquire start-up Happy Returns on Thursday for an undisclosed amount. The 120-person Santa Monica-based company lets people return things they bought online, in person…The acquisition will help solve sometimes messy logistics of returning and shipping items for merchants, and help drive foot traffic to those businesses as the economy reopens, Keller said. Eventually, he expects the product to incentivize more merchants to sign up for PayPal products. The company, founded by Max Levchin and Peter Thiel, works with roughly 31 million businesses that will eventually have access to the in-person returns network.”
May 13, 2021
On the wires
PayPal Accelerates Its Digital Transformation With Google Cloud to Support Customer Needs During Pandemic–and Beyond
“Google Cloud and PayPal today announced they are deepening their relationship to further accelerate PayPal’s digital transformation and evolving customer needs. Under this expanded relationship, Google Cloud will provide both infrastructure and analytics capabilities to support PayPal’s growth, helping the company process transactional data at massive scale.”
May 11, 2021
On the web
Munich Airport – First Airport in Europe With Integrated PayPal QR Code
ftnnews
“Munich Airport becomes the first airport in Europe to introduce PayPal QR Code – a mobile and cash-free payment system – in all stores and businesses of the Eurotrade retail subsidiary…The new QR code will be seamlessly integrated into the processes of existing check-out systems including accounting. The payment process for this is as secure as it is uncomplicated: if customers would like to pay, they open the QR code in the PayPal app on their smartphone and show it to the cashier. The cashier scans the code and the amount to be paid is shown directly in the app. Next, customers select their preferred payment method stored in their PayPal account – for example bank account or credit card – and confirm the payment on their smartphone. Customers as well as cashiers immediately receive a confirmation of the successful transaction.”
May 10, 2021
On the web
PayPal Wants to Be a Lot More Than an Online Checkout Button
Bloomberg
“PayPal Holdings Inc. is eyeing life beyond the checkout button. In the coming months, the firm is planning to debut a bevy of new services, which could include high-yield savings accounts, check-cashing services and stock-investing capabilities. It’s all being done in the hopes of PayPal becoming the world’s next “super app,” akin to China’s Alipay or WeChat, India’s Paytm or Singapore’s Grab. The stakes are high: If PayPal pulls it off, the company could become a bigger part of U.S. consumers’ lives than Amazon, Google or Facebook. But, in the U.S., there is no shortage of banking giants and technology firms that have tried and failed to accomplish what PayPal wants to do.”
May 6, 2021
On the web
PayPal Sees Record Earnings, Volume Amid Sustained E-commerce Surge
MarketWatch
“The company saw a record $285 billion in total payments volume, or the value of activity occurring on its platform. Analysts surveyed by FactSet were modeling TPV of $264.7 billion. With the first-quarter performance, PayPal’s TPV on a trailing-12-month basis topped $1 trillion for the first time. The company added 14.5 million net new active accounts overall. PayPal saw 4.4 billion transactions in the quarter and 42.2 transactions per active account on a trailing-12-month basis. The number of daily active accounts for the core PayPal product rose 33%. Schulman said that newer services are helping to drive increased engagement. About half of customers who’ve tried PayPal’s buy-now-pay-later service used the feature again within three months, with that number rising to 70% over six months.”
April 27, 2021
On the web
Paypal CEO Talks Cryptocurrency And The Rise Of Super Apps
Time
“The fintech giant had a record year as the pandemic drove shoppers from stores. Instead, they bought groceries, movies and underwear on their phones and computers. PayPal does business in more than 200 countries and deals in more than 100 currencies. It did a staggering amount of business last year, processing transactions at a rate of 1,000 per second during the peak holiday shopping season. In total, PayPal processed 15.4 billion payments, with a value of $936 billion last year.”
April 20, 2021
On the web
PayPal to Launch Local Wallet in China Focused on Cross-border Payments
CNBC
“PayPal plans to set up a local wallet in China focused on cross-border payments. In January, the U.S. fintech company became the first foreign firm with 100% ownership of a payments platform in China. But until now, PayPal’s been quiet on its plans. Hannah Qiu, the China CEO for PayPal, told CNBC that the company is looking to launch a domestic wallet. But instead of it competing with the dominant players Alipay and WeChat Pay for domestic payments, PayPal will focus on cross-border payments.”
April 15, 2021
On the web
CEO Says PayPal’s Crypto Commerce May Reach $200M Volume in Just Months
Cointelegraph
“As the price of Bitcoin continues to reach new all-time highs , major corporations with existing crypto offerings in place are beginning to discuss grand plans for the future. Most recently, Dan Schulman, CEO of PayPal, hinted at future developments for PayPal’s crypto offering during Forbes’ “ 2021 Blockchain 50 Symposium: Crypto Goes Corporate ,” an online event that took place on April 13. During a fireside chat with Michael del Castillo, associate editor at Forbes, Schulman mentioned that the financial system will undergo more changes over the next five years compared to the progress that has been made in the previous 30 years.”
April 12, 2021
On the web
PayPal Rolls Out New Fraud Management Tools for Merchants | ZDNet
ZDNet
“PayPal is launching a new suite of fraud management features for mid-market and enterprise businesses that aims to help combat the rise in online payments fraud brought on by the pandemic… According to PayPal, its new Fraud Protection Advanced service uses device fingerprinting, machine learning and analytics to help businesses identify, investigate, resolve and mitigate fraudulent transactions. The technology allows for real-time data modeling to help businesses spot shifting fraud patterns, and enables high fraud decisioning performance that can lead to lower chargebacks and false declines.”
April 9, 2021
On the web
PayPal Is Building a ‘Super App.’ Should Banks Be Worried?
American Banker
“For years, bankers agonized over the day when Big Tech firms would finally set their sights squarely on financial services. Mainly they worried about four companies: Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google. Meanwhile, a fifth tech powerhouse, somewhat smaller but growing fast, was adding products traditionally offered by retail banks. This company built a huge customer base, but it didn’t position itself as a head-on competitor to the nation’s largest banks. Instead, it sought to partner with insured depositories. By early this year, it had a bigger market capitalization than all but two American banks.”
March 30, 2021
On the wires
PayPal Launches “Checkout With Crypto”
“PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: PYPL ) today announced the launch of Checkout with Crypto, a new feature which significantly expands the utility of cryptocurrency. Available at millions of global online businesses and continuing to expand over the coming months, PayPal customers with cryptocurrency holdings in the U.S. will be able to choose to check out with crypto seamlessly within PayPal at checkout. Building on the ability to buy, hold and sell cryptocurrency with PayPal, customers using Checkout with Crypto can check out safely and easily, converting cryptocurrency holdings to fiat currency1 at checkout, with certainty of value and no additional transaction fees. Checkout with Crypto will automatically appear in the PayPal wallet at checkout for customers with sufficient cryptocurrency balance to cover an eligible purchase.”
March 17, 2021
On the web
PayPal Sees No Letup for Online Shopping Even With Reopenings
Bloomberg
“PayPal Holdings Inc. said there’s been no slowdown in online shopping even as cities around the world begin to reopen. “Even as people get vaccines and start to go out, their business will forever be changed,” Chief Executive Officer Dan Schulman said in an interview with Bloomberg News reporters and editors Monday. “I don’t think there’s any going back to what was.””
March 16, 2021
On the web
Flutterwave and PayPal Collaborate to Allow African Merchants to Accept and Make Payments
TechCrunch
“It is nearly impossible for businesses in some African countries to receive money from PayPal. While the payments giant has not given reasons why this is so, speculation hints at factors like insufficient regulation and poor banking security in said countries. That might be a thing of the past for some businesses, as African payments company Flutterwave today is announcing a collaboration with PayPal to allow PayPal customers globally to pay African merchants through its “Pay with PayPal” feature.”
March 12, 2021
On the web
PayPal’s Entry to Crypto Followed Long Buildup in Expertise
Wall Street Journal
“PayPal Holdings Inc. became one of the largest companies in the U.S. to enter the market for digital currencies with its announcement last October that it would allow its millions of U.S. users to sell, buy and hold cryptocurrencies. Over the past few weeks, several other companies have announced their plans for cryptocurrencies, ranging from Tesla Inc. to Mastercard Inc. and Bank of New York Mellon Corp. The recent stir is likely just the beginning of digital currencies inching closer into the mainstream, experts say.”
March 10, 2021
On the web
PayPal Brings Its ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ Offer to Crowded Australia
Reuters
“PayPal Holdings Inc will launch its “buy now, pay later” (BNPL) option in Australia this June, the U.S. payments giant said on Wednesday, muscling in further on Afterpay Ltd and others for share in the booming industry. So far PayPal’s new BNPL option has been rolled out in the United States and Britain where by the end of the December quarter it said it had handled more than $750 million of transactions.”
March 8, 2021
On the wires
PayPal to Acquire Curv
“PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: PYPL ) today announced that it has agreed to acquire Curv to accelerate and expand its initiatives to support cryptocurrencies and digital assets. Curv is a leading provider of cloud-based infrastructure for digital asset security based in Tel Aviv, Israel. In October 2020, PayPal announced its commitment to help shape the role that digital currencies will play in the future of financial services and commerce. To drive sustained growth and innovation in this area, the company recently created a business unit focused on blockchain, crypto and digital currencies. Curv will join the newly formed group, with its strong team of technologists adding technical expertise to PayPal.”
March 3, 2021
On the web
PayPal Is in Talks to Acquire Crypto Storage Firm Curv
Bloomberg
“PayPal Holdings Inc. is in talks to acquire the startup Curv, which helps companies transfer and store digital currencies. The talks are early and could still fall apart, according to a person familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified discussing internal deliberations.”
March 2, 2021
On the web
PayPal Is Moving Aggressively To In-Store Contactless Payments Tapping A $19B Opportunity
Forbes
“The digital wallet that allows contactless payment is rapidly becoming the payment method of choice thanks to its greater convenience. No self-respecting Millennial or GenZ consumer would be without one. Cowen Equity Research found that 70% of consumers surveyed last year planned to use more digital payment offerings post Covid-19. But it’s not just younger consumers. Everybody is leaning into the contactless payment lifestyle due to pandemic-induced heighten awareness of touching dirty surfaces.”
February 5, 2021
On the web
PayPal Says U.S. Consumer Watchdog Investigating Payment App Venmo
Reuters
“PayPal Holdings Inc said on Friday it was cooperating with the U.S. consumer watchdog regarding a civil investigation demand relating to its app Venmo’s alleged unauthorized fund transfers and collections processes. The demand from the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was made last month, the digital payment processor said in a regulatory filing. ( bit.ly/3tsOHn1 )”
PayPal Is Shutting Down Domestic Payments Business in India
TechCrunch
“PayPal is shutting down its domestic business in India, less than four years after the American giant kickstarted local operations in the world’s second largest internet market…In a long statement, PayPal said its priorities had shifted in India, but did not elaborate why it was winding down the business. A report recently said the company, which has amassed over 360,000 merchants in the country, was struggling to make inroads in India.”
January 27, 2021
On the wires
Vistaprint and PayPal Bring QR Code Touch-free Payments to Small Businesses
“Vistaprint, the marketing and design partner to small businesses, today announced a collaboration with PayPal to bring innovative and safe touch-free payment solutions to small businesses across the country. Touch-free payments allow small business owners to process payments for goods and services without having to handle cash or credit cards, and avoiding physical contact with customers during the transaction. Through this collaboration, Vistaprint is enabling customers to leverage PayPal’s touch-free payment solution through a collection of customizable Vistaprint marketing products bearing their unique QR code.”
January 21, 2021
On the wires
PayPal’s Xoom Adds UPI Payments Enabling NRIs and PIOs to Remit Money to India in Real Time
“Xoom, PayPal’s international digital money transfer service announced its integration with NPIL’s/NPCI’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI), a real-time payment system facilitating inter-bank transactions in India. Non-Residential Indians (NRIs) and Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) living in the United States (US), Canada and Europe can now remit money to their family and friends in India. Using UPI to send money to India via Xoom is easier as overseas senders only need to know Indian receivers’ UPI identity (ID) to send remittances instantly, 24 by 7 and 365 days of the year.”
January 14, 2021
On the web
PayPal Becomes First Foreign Firm in China With Full Ownership of Payments Business
Reuters
“PayPal Holding Inc has become the first foreign operator with 100% control of a payment platform in China, according to Chinese government data, as the U.S. fintech giant eyes a bigger foothold in a booming market for online payments. PayPal acquired the 30% stake it doesn’t already own in China’s GoPay, formally known as Guofubao Information Technology Co., on Dec. 31, 2020, according to shareholder data from the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System.”
January 7, 2021
On the web
PayPal Backs Crypto Tax Startup Taxbit
Reuters
“PayPal Holdings Inc’s venture arm has made an investment in Salt Lake City, Utah-based tech startup Taxbit, which helps consumers and businesses calculate the taxes owed on cryptocurrency holdings, the companies said on Thursday. Taxbit will use the cash injection, of an undisclosed amount, to grow the team and expand the business, said Austin Woodward, the company’s chief executive and founder.”
January 5, 2021
On the web
Paypal Wins Bid to Strike Down CFPB Prepaid Card Regulations
Reuters
“A federal judge in Washington, D.C., has invalidated part of a U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rule governing prepaid cards and digital wallets, emphatically agreeing with fintech giant PayPal that the agency overstepped its authority. In a decision studded with exclamation points, U.S. District Judge Richard Leon wrote that the agency’s rulemaking authority under Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act did not allow it to dictate how prepaid card and digital wallet providers disclose fees to customers or to limit when credit cards could be linked to new accounts, saying those restrictions were precluded by other consumer finance laws.”
January 4, 2021
On the wires
Cash a Check with Venmo Now Available For Select Customers
“Venmo has today announced that it is introducing a new Cash a Check feature in the Venmo app for select customers, enabling Venmo’s community to access a quick, easy and secure way to cash paper checks. The new feature will allow select Venmo customers the ability to cash printed, payroll and government checks directly from the Venmo app.”
December 23, 2020
On the wires
PayPal’s Xoom Adds UPI Payments Enabling NRIs and PIOs to Remit Money to India in Real Time
“Xoom, PayPal’s international digital money transfer service announced its integration with NPIL’s/NPCI’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI), a real-time payment system facilitating inter-bank transactions in India. Non-Residential Indians (NRIs) and Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) living in the United States (US), Canada and Europe can now remit money to their family and friends in India. Using UPI to send money to India via Xoom is easier as overseas senders only need to know Indian receivers’ UPI identity (ID) to send remittances instantly, 24 by 7 and 365 days of the year.”
December 11, 2020
On the wires
Xoom, a PayPal service, announces secure money transfers to mobile wallets in 12 countries in Africa
“Xoom, PayPal’s money transfer service, announced that the company’s customers in the US, UK, Canada and Europe can now send secure and convenient money transfers directly to mobile wallets in key markets across Africa with a focus on the underbanked segment. This new service expands the company’s offering to send money to mobile wallets in Burundi, Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe—with plans to include more markets in 2021.”
December 9, 2020
On the wires
PayPal launches touch-free payments in-store with iZettle’s point of sale app to support UK businesses post-lockdown
“PayPal today launched QR code payments in iZettle’s point of sale app, allowing small businesses across the UK – from retailers to florists and cafes – to accept safe and secure touch-free payments from customers. The roll-out marks the first time UK merchants can accept PayPal QR Code payments in-store via a point of sale solution. To support the small business community further during the pandemic PayPal QR Code transactions will be available for iZettle merchants at a reduced transaction rate of 1% from now until May 31st 2021[1].”
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