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Finovate Blog
Tracking fintech, banking & financial services innovations since 1994
PayPal is launching its PayPal Complete Payments platform in China, offering seamless cross-border payment solutions.
The platform, which initially launched in the U.K., Canada, and Europe, helps merchants settle funds quickly and manage international payments.
PayPal estimates the new tool will help Chinese merchants to reach over 400 million PayPal users globally.
PayPal, which just released its stackable in-store and online rewards system PayPal Everywhere earlier this month, has a new take on what it means to be “everywhere.” The California-based company is launchingPayPal Complete Payments in China this week.
Originally debuted in the spring of this year, the PayPal Complete Payments platform integrates customized products and solutions to help merchants sell globally, streamlining payments and receivables. Upon launch, the platform was available to small and mid-sized enterprises in the U.K., Canada, and more than 20 European markets.
“We are excited to bring PayPal’s Complete Payments solution to China, empowering businesses with secure, seamless cross-border transactions and helping them tap into global markets,” said PayPal President, Global Markets Suzan Kereere. “This launch marks a significant milestone in PayPal’s mission to revolutionize commerce globally, bridging Chinese businesses with consumers around the world in a more efficient and transparent way.”
Over time, PayPal plans to add multiple capabilities to PayPal Complete Payments in China. The company will:
Use its network to enable Chinese merchants to reach over 400 million active PayPal users and billions of international consumers who use card and APM payments.
Settle funds quickly to allow merchants to get quick and easy access to their funds.
Offer tailored products– including RMB Transfer and Vendor Payouts– for Chinese merchants to enable fast and secure global fund management and facilitate settlements from PayPal accounts to domestic bank accounts.
Help merchants analyze risk and protect against fraud with AI-powered tools that can reduce time spent managing disputes.
“As one of the first e-commerce platforms to bring PayPal Complete Payments to China’s merchants, we are thrilled to support their expansion into global markets,” WooCommerce Chief Marketing Officer said Tamara Niesen. “This partnership delivers a tailored user experience for WooCommerce merchants, enabling cross-border businesses to confidently scale with PayPal’s advanced solutions.”
PayPal has offered its payments capabilities in China for almost two decades. By partnering with China UnionPay, along with other key players in the region, PayPal is currently engaged with over 700 merchants from across the country. Despite help from partners, PayPal is also able to hold its own in the region. In 2020, the company acquired a 100% stake in Chinese payments firm GoPay, becoming the first foreign company to fully own a Chinese payments platform.
PayPal enhanced its rewards program to allow consumers to receive 5% cash back on a spending category of their choice.
Shoppers can receive up to $1,000 in cash back in their selected category.
PayPal also announced that customers can add their PayPal Debit Card to their Apple Wallet.
Payments pioneer PayPal has spent the year working to make it easier for customers to make transactions. Today, the California-based fintech announced it is expanding its rewards program to incentivize customers to choose PayPal at the point-of-sale.
Under the new, enhanced rewards program, consumers choose a monthly category of spending, such as groceries or clothing, that they want to receive 5% cash back on while using their PayPal Debit Mastercard. Shoppers can receive up to $1,000 in cash back in their selected category.
Users can also stack cash back offers. For example, if a DoorDash customer selected restaurant as their monthly category, they will receive the 5% cash back offer for using their PayPal Mastercard and another 10% cash back if they save the deal from DoorDash in the PayPal app. The 15% total rewards would be automatically applied when checking out with PayPal.
“We know that consumers are looking for smart, simple and safe ways to make their everyday purchases while also getting more value out of every transaction. That’s why millions of customers can now enjoy the trust and convenience they love about PayPal everywhere – both in-store and online, with access to rich rewards that put more money back in their pockets,” PayPal President and CEO Alex Chriss. “It’s a pivotal moment for PayPal and its customers and a significant first step as we bring the power of PayPal to everywhere they shop.”
PayPal also unveiled today that customers can add their PayPal Debit Card to their Apple Wallet, which will offer even more options at the point of sale.
“We’re excited to work with PayPal to bring Apple Pay to PayPal Debit Card cardholders and help deliver a seamless shopping experience to even more users,” said Eddy Cue, Senior Vice President of Services at Apple. “Whether in-store, online or in-apps, PayPal debit card cardholders will be able to enjoy the convenience and security that Apple Pay brings to their everyday lives.”
Fiserv is tapping PayPal to help its merchant clients offer faster checkouts through PayPal’s Fastlane.
Fastlane recognizes returning customers via email, allowing them to autofill payment details and complete purchases in as little as one click.
PayPal estimates Fastlane users convert more than 80% of the time, with a 50% higher conversion rate and a 32% faster checkout process compared to non-users.
After first partnering more than a decade ago, PayPal and Fiserv have furthered their partnership to help Fiserv’s merchant clients leverage PayPal to offer shoppers a faster checkout experience.
Specificaly, Fiserv will allow its merchant clients to connect to PayPal’s Fastlane, which will ultimately help speed up guest checkout flows in the U.S. Fiserv joins BigCommerce, Bold, Adobe, and Salesforce, which also offer PayPal’s Fastlane.
“We’re excited to deepen our collaboration with Fiserv and extend our innovative products and solutions to a broader audience,” said PayPal Executive Vice President and General Manager Large Enterprise and Merchant Platform Group Frank Keller. “This partnership reinforces our commitment to driving excellence in checkout convenience by partnering with leading payment service providers and e-commerce platforms.”
Fastlane, which PayPal first launched in January and then made generally available earlier this month, recognizes customers early in the checkout process by their email. After customers receive a one-time passcode sent via email, Fastlane allows shoppers to access their saved information by autofilling the fields in the checkout flow. Once verified, customers can complete their purchase in as little as one click. If Fastlane does not recognize a shopper by their email, it allows them to create a Fastlane profile by opting in during their purchase process, enabling faster transactions in the future.
Because the tool does not require users to fill out forms or remember passwords, PayPal estimates that guest shoppers using Fastlane convert more than 80% of the time, have up to 50% higher conversion rates compared to non-Fastlane users, and reduce the time to checkout by 32%.
“Fiserv is committed to simplifying the complexities of commerce, creating value for our clients by making it simple for businesses to enable new, engaging experiences for their customer base,” said Fiserv Head of Merchant Solutions Jennifer LaClair. “Our expanded partnership with PayPal supports our mission to enhance client value by providing simple, cutting-edge solutions to our clients that elevate and accelerate the commerce experience.”
Finovate’s Fintech Rundown is here with a look at some of the top fintech headlines. From startups emerging from stealth flush with capital to the launch of new AI-powered fraud fighting technologies, we’ve got you covered. Be sure to check back all week long for the latest updates.
E-commerce
E-commerce payments solution provider Klarnaacquires New Zealand’s Laybuy.
PayPal is launching Fastlane, a one-click guest checkout experience for online merchants.
Fastlane automatically recognizes shoppers based on their phone number or email address, and autofills information forms in the checkout flow.
PayPal first unveiled Fastlane in January, and has been testing the solution with select merchants and ecommerce sites, including BigCommerce.
Fintech pioneer PayPal is launchingFastlane, its guest checkout tool, for all U.S. merchants this week. Fastlane aims to accelerate the guest checkout experience to help users complete their purchase in as little as one click.
Merchants can integrate Fastlane into their existing online checkout flow to create a simpler, faster checkout experience for the 43% of consumers who prefer a guest checkout experience. By using the customer’s email, Fastlane recognizes shoppers early in the guest checkout process and allows them to access their saved information with a one-time passcode sent via email. After entering their passcode, users can autofill the information in the checkout flow and complete their purchase in as little as one click.
When Fastlane does not recognize a shopper, it allows them to create a Fastlane profile by opting in during their purchase process, enabling faster transactions in the future.The tool does not require users to fill out forms or remember passwords.
“Fastlane by PayPal significantly reduces the time consumers spend using guest checkout – making for a more seamless checkout experience,” said PayPal President and CEO Alex Chriss. “With Fastlane, we are bringing an accelerated guest checkout to businesses of all sizes helping them to drive more sales.”
PayPal unveiled Fastlane in January and has since tested the technology with select businesses, including merchant SaaS provider BigCommerce, which is among the first ecommerce sites to test PayPal’s Fastlane. Over the past several months of trialing the technology, BigCommerce saw a 32% reduction in time it took for customers to check out. Additionally, as company CEO Brent Bellm noted, “Results from early-adopting test customers show that Fastlane users convert more than 80% of the time, which is up to a 50% improvement over guest shoppers who do not use Fastlane. For BigCommerce enterprise customers using PayPal, the Fastlane experience further improves on our checkout conversion rate of 71%.”
Fastlane is available for U.S. merchants on PayPalComplete Payments and PayPal Braintree, as well as via platforms including Adobe Commerce, BigCommerce, Salesforce Commerce Cloud, and others.
PayPal’s stablecoin, PayPal USD (PYUSD), was officially added to the Solana Blockchain last week. This shift comes after the California-based company launched on Ethereum blockchain last summer. Now, PayPal stablecoin users can send PYUSD on Ethereum or Solana when transferring out to external wallets.
“For more than 25 years, PayPal has been at the forefront of digital commerce, revolutionizing commerce by providing a trusted experience between consumers and merchants around the world. PayPal USD was created with the intent to revolutionize commerce again by providing a fast, easy, and inexpensive payment method for the next evolution of the digital economy,” said PayPal Senior Vice President of the Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, and Digital Currency Group Jose Fernandez da Ponte. “Making PYUSD available on the Solana blockchain furthers our goal of enabling a digital currency with a stable value designed for commerce and payments.”
In addition to enabling PYUSD transfers on both Ethereum and Solana, this move will have significant implications for PayPal, consumers, banks, and the crypto markets.
Impact on PayPal users
Faster transactions: Because Solana’s blockchain is known for its high-speed processing capabilities, PYUSD transactions on Solana will be much quicker, which will enhance the experience for end users.
Lower transaction costs: Solana offers low transaction fees, which will not only reduce the cost of sending and receiving PYUSD, but it will also make Solana a more attractive option for users looking to save on transaction costs.
More flexibility: Offering both Solana and Ethereum will offer users more choices for their transactions. Offering multiple blockchain allows users to choose different options based on their preferred cost and transaction speed.
Impact on Banks
Integration challenges: Traditional banks seeking to participate in the stablecoin market may need to adapt their systems to accommodate transactions that involve PayPal’s stablecoin on the Solana blockchain. These adaptations could require significant technical and regulatory challenges.
Competition: The race to stablecoin dominance has quieted among most traditional financial services providers in the U.S., but cross-border payments in all of their forms are still top-of-mind for many. As PayPal leverages the blockchain to offer faster and cheaper transactions, traditional banks may face increased competition.
Regulatory scrutiny: PayPal’s move onto Solana may attract further attention from regulators. This increased regulatory scrutiny may require financial institutions to pay more attention to their own operations and closely monitor regulatory developments to ensure that their own operations are compliant.
Impact on the Crypto market
Increased credibility: While it is not a bank, PayPal is a reputable player in the traditional financial services space. Because of its tenure and reputation in the space, the company’s adoption of Solana for its stablecoin operations offers credibility to the blockchain and crypto industries.
Boost for Solana: Solana will likely benefit from the partnership, as PayPal’s move serves as a vote of confidence for the blockchain and may lead to increased demand for Solana’s native token and may result in further adoption by other enterprises.
Shifting competition: PayPal’s selection of Solana may put pressure on Ethereum to improve its scalability and cost efficiency.
Overall, PayPal’s move is likely to enhance the efficiency and appeal of its digital currency offerings, drive broader adoption of blockchain technology, and spur innovation and competition in both the traditional financial sector and among crypto players.
PYUSD is issued and managed by Paxos Trust, a company whose products are subject to regulatory oversight by the New York State Department of Financial Services. Users can purchase PYUSD in the PayPal and Venmo wallets, as well as on crypto.com, Phantom, and Paxos. All platforms offer a fiat-to-crypto user experience.
Investment and innovation are defining the wealth management space as the week begins. LA-based wealth management platform Altruist enters the week with $169 million more in capital, courtesy of a Series E round led by Iconiq Growth. Meanwhile, JP Morgan Chase announced that it has deployed generative AI to enhance its thematic investment offering.
Be sure to check back all week long for more fintech news!
Crypto
Revolutlaunches its stand-alone crypto exchange for professional crypto traders, Revolut X.
KeyBanklaunchesKeyVAM, a virtual account management solution powered by Qolo for treasury management clients who have complex demand deposit account structures.
Regtech
Global RegTech consolidator Corlyticsacquires Deloitte UK’s RegTech platform.
Embedded finance
Issuer-processor Paymentologyteams up with Diamond Trust Bank to bring embedded finace solutions to customers in Kenya.
Accelerators and incubators
Ally Financiallaunches its Ally Innovation Challenge to promote solutions leveraging Responsible AI.
This week in Tales from the Crypto we look at some traditional and alternative ways that investors are backing their favorite cryptocurrency companies, examine a new report explaining why the U.S. lags behind its peers when it comes to central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), and learn about U.S. Department of Justice charges – and a guilty plea- in a $1.9 billion dollar crypto pyramid scheme.
Swiss digital asset bank Sygnum scores new funding
Has crypto winter yielded to the year’s first crypto unicorn? Swiss crypto banking group Sygnumhas raised $40 million in strategic funding in a round led by Azimut Holdings. The round gives the firm a valuation of $900 million, not quite enough for a unicorn horn, but more than enough to raise not just eyebrows but new expectations at what might be in store for cryptocurrency businesses and the funds that invest in them.
The company will use the capital to fuel its expansion into new markets in both Europe and Asia. The investment will also accelerate development of Sygnum solutions such as its bank-to-bank platform, currently supporting crypto offerings from more than 15 banks and FIs around the world.
“Our core thesis has always been that Future has Heritage, and our strategy to build trust via regulation and good governance has guided us throughout all market cycles,” Sygnum co-founder and Group CEO Mathias Imbach said. He underscored the challenge of “closing a successful funding round” in the current financial environment, which fellow co-founder and CEO of the company’s Singapore office Gerald Goh called “a testament to Sygnum’s strong and unique position as a leading regulated financial institution in the global digital asset industry.”
Report: U.S. progress on CBDCs lagging other nations
But according to a new report, the future of any U.S.-created CBDC has plenty of issues – even without the antipathy of the once (and maybe future) U.S. president. According to a report from think tank Atlantic Council, the U.S. is falling behind other countries that are exploring or developing CBDCs. The Council claimed that the U.S. Federal Reserve has deployed “less than 20” people to work on research and development on CBDCs. By contrast, the Council said that the People’s Bank of China has more than 300 people working on their CBDC project. The effort in the U.K. was also praised compared to the U.S., with the Council favorably noting that the Bank of England had deployed a joint task force including both the Treasury and Parliament.
The Atlantic Council says that there is an innovation gap between the U.S. and other developed nations when it comes to CBDCs. The Council also criticized the relatively slow rollout of the U.S. interbank settlement system compared to similar systems in Europe that were deployed sooner. And while the Council accepts that there’s no reason to “disrupt the currency that underpins the global economy,” it still believes that the U.S. dollar needs to “innovate.”
PayPal invests $5 million stablecoin in Mesh
The Fed may not have much faith in crypto. But PayPal is putting $5 million worth of its own crypto to work in support of embedded crypto payments startup Mesh. PayPal announced that it has invested $5 million worth of its own U.S. dollar denominated stablecoin, PayPal USD (PYUSD), in the company, which facilitates digital asset transfers and account aggregation.
This investment, announced this week, marks the first time PYUSD has been used as the funding instrument for an investment by PayPal Ventures. “The shift toward digital currencies requires a stable instrument that is both digitally native and easily connected to fiat currency like the U.S. dollar,” PayPal president and CEO Dan Schulman said last year when PYUSD was introduced. “Our commitment to responsible innovation and compliance, and our track record delivering new experiences to our customers, provides the foundation necessary to contribute to the growth of digital payments through PayPal USD.”
Founded in 2020, Mesh enables companies to integrate crypto payments and transfers directly into their existing platforms. The firm has more than 300 integrations with exchanges, digital wallets, and brokerages. This week’s funding follows a $22 million Series A funding round Mesh closed in September. Bam Azizi is co-founder and CEO.
DOJ announces charges, guilty plea in cryptocurrency fraud scheme
On the “Law & Order: Crypto Edition” front, the U.S. Department of Justice has levied criminal charges against two individuals – and accepted the guilty plea of a third – for their involvement in a cryptocurrency fraud scheme called HyperFund. The SEC charged two of the three individuals civilly for their role in what they allege to be a $1.89 billion cryptocurrency pyramid scheme.
The U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, Erek L. Barron, called the amount of fraud “staggering.” Barron added “whether it’s cryptocurrency fraud, or any other financial frauds, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”
The scheme ran from June 2020 through November 2022, alleges the Department of Justice. The scheme’s conspirators are alleged to have told investors that they would earn daily returns of between 0.5% and 1% until their initial investment doubled or tripled thanks in part to revenues from crypto mining operations. The DOJ alleges that HyperFund began blocking investors from withdrawing their money in July of 2021 and the scheme collapsed the following year.
According to the SEC, one of the conspirators who agreed to settle civil charges of violating securities laws against fraud, had received more than $3.7 million from the HyperFund platform and its investors. This individual is also the one who has already pled guilty to a single count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and wire fraud. The maximum sentence for all three conspirators is five years in prison if convicted.
Odds and Ends
Former U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne joinedCoinbase’s advisory council.
Cryptocurrency platform Kraken introduced new Chief Operating and Product Officer Gilles BianRosa.
Reuters reported that FTX has abandoned the idea of relaunching its exchange and will instead pursue a liquidation with a goal of repaying customers in full.
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin shared his thoughts on the present and future of cryptocurrencies in a blog post this week.
PayPal CEO Alex Chriss released a video yesterday unveiling the company’s six new planned launches for the year.
PayPal’s new launches include a faster checkout experience, Fastlane, Smart Receipts, advanced offers, CashPass, and updated Venmo business profiles.
PayPal will release all of these in the U.S. this year and plans to roll them out across the globe in the future.
Yesterday, PayPal released an Apple-like launch video in which the company’s new CEO Alex Chriss unveiled six of the company’s newest initiatives. In the 17-minute video, which has already received 2.1 million views on YouTube, the payments company unveils the six new innovations it plans to bring to market this year.
Here’s a look at what PayPal expects to release this year:
Faster checkout
To help reduce cart abandonment at checkout, PayPal said it will accelerate the checkout process to get customers to choose PayPal and leverage passkeys to enable customers to log in with their face or fingerprint with one tap. The company says that the implementation of biometrics will not only reduce latency by as much as 50%, but it will also enable customers to check out twice as fast.
Fastlane
Fastlane by PayPal is the company’s new, one-click guest checkout tool that PayPal merchant clients can implement into their online checkout flow. When customers are ready to checkout, they are offered the option to save their information with Fastlane to check out in a single tap. With Fastlane, shoppers do not need to remember their username or password, nor do they have to update personal information or share their credit card credentials with each merchant.
PayPal partner BigCommerce has been piloting Fastlane with its merchant customers, and has reported that Fastlane can recognize 70% of guest checkout users.
Smart Receipts
Smart Receipts will leverage AI to help merchants show consumers personalized product suggestions along with a cashback reward offer on the receipt. When a consumer opens their email receipt– which 45% of PayPal customers do– they will see a new product recommendation at the bottom. The offers help merchants open the door to repeat purchases from customers they have already worked hard to acquire.
Advanced offers
Advanced offers shows consumers more relevant ads by showing them products based on the SKU data of their actual purchases, not just their browsing history. The advanced offers capability will also allow merchants to customize the offers. And PayPal will only change merchants based on performance, not just impressions or clicks.
On the consumer side, PayPal’s use of purchasing data means that they will see more relevant offers based on product details such as type and color. The company has also implemented privacy controls that allow users to opt out of data sharing.
CashPass
Launching this March, CashPass will offer consumers personalized cash back offers from top brands. To redeem an offer, users tap on the offer, shop at the business, and check out using PayPal. Shoppers can stack the savings with other rewards, such as the PayPal Cashback Mastercard.
PayPal’s CashPass launch partners include Best Buy, eBay, McDonald’s, Priceline, Ticketmaster, Uber, and Walmart.
Updated Venmo business profiles
Venmo first introduced business profiles in 2021 in an attempt to capture more revenue from small businesses using their personal Venmo account to accept payment. This year, Venmo will enhance business by allowing them to add subscribe buttons, offer promotions to consumers, and show profile rankings.
All of these updates will begin rolling out in the U.S. this year, though PayPal only offered more specific timing on CashPass, which it said will launch this March. The company also made note that it plans to launch all of these features in more geographies at some point.
Founded in 1998, PayPal handles nearly 25 billion transactions a year for nearly 400 million consumer accounts and 35 million merchants in more than 200 markets around the world. Despite the number of announcements, the market is reacting poorly to PayPal’s release this week. At the time of publishing, the company’s stock is down 0.12%.
Digital banking solutions provider Finshape announced a strategic collaboration with Arab National Bank (anb). The partnership will enable anb to leverage Finshape’s personalization and data analytics platform to enhance its digital banking services. The bank will also be able to take advantage of Finshape’s latest offering, Money Stories. This new solution categorizes spending and provides forecasts to help individuals better track their finances. At the same time, Money Stories empowers banks to make personalized, relevant offers to their customers.
“This collaboration reflects our commitment to speed up innovation and customer-centricity in the Middle Eastern banking scene,” Finshape Chief Growth Officer József Nyíri said. “Together with anb, we aim to transform how customers manage their finances, providing them with tailored solutions that empower them to reach their financial aspirations.”
Finshape demoed Money Stories in its Best of Show-winning debut at FinovateEurope 2022. Inspired by Instagram Stories, Finshape’s Money Stories helps banks boost engagement and enhance the customer experience. The solution highlights key financial events in the user’s life via short, seven to ten second snapshots. The shots are swipeable and easy to view and digest, providing a unique and memorable way for users to track their finances.
“(The) integration of a social media story-like format within our banking app, mark(s) a significant milestone in Saudi Arabia’s financial landscape, setting a precedent for engaging and educational digital interactions,” Arab National Bank COO Aiedh Al-Zahrani said
After winning Best of Show in 2022, Finshape returned to the Finovate stage the following year for FinovateEurope 2023. With 100+ clients in 25 countries, and more than 20 million users, Finshape ended last year with collaborating with Banca Transilvania, helping the bank launch its BT Go app. Designed to support corporate banking, BT Go offers an intuitive overview of business finances, unified card management, and automated invoicing. Within a month after launch, the solution has garnered 1,400 active users.
Finshape was founded in 2021 via the combination of Czech Banking Software Company (BSC) and Hungarian fintech W.UP.
Interested in demoing at FinovateEurope in London next month? Applications are still being accepted from innovative companies with new solutions that are ready to show. Visit our FinovateEurope hub today to learn more.
Here is our look at fintech innovation around the world.
Middle East and Northern Africa
Pontera, an Israel-based software platform for financial advisors, raised $60 million in new funding.
Egyptian fintech and customer loyalty app Zeal secured $4 million in funding.
The Central Bank of Oman granted Paymob a Payment Service Provider (PSP) license.
Central and Southern Asia
Kumari Bank, a commercial bank based in Nepal, partnered with Compass Plus Technologies to enhance its payments processing.
Chriss, who will replace current CEO Dan Schulman, will begin his role on September 27.
Chriss comes to PayPal after a 19-year tenure at Intuit.
Fintech pioneer PayPal is back in the headlines today. After unveiling the launch of its stablecoin last week, the California-based company announced it has appointed Alex Chriss as new CEO.
Chriss will replace Dan Schulman on September 27 of this year. This comes after, earlier this year, Schulman declared his intention to retire. “I’m at a point in my life where I want to devote more time to my passions outside the workplace,” Schulman said in February. He will remain on the company’s Board until May 2024.
After Schulman’s statement, PayPal’s Board of Directors began a six-month long search for a new CEO who could not only drive growth, but also had extensive global payments, product, and technology experience. After an “extensive engagement and evaluation,” PayPal’s Board unanimously agreed on Chriss to lead the company.
“With his depth of experience in product development, his passion for serving customers and his longstanding commitment to empowering and enabling small businesses, and his proven track record of developing and inspiring his team, Alex is the perfect leader to take PayPal forward and accelerate the company’s growth opportunities,” said Chair of the PayPal Board of Directors John Donahoe. “The Board search committee worked diligently and thoroughly to find the right candidate to take PayPal into its next stage of growth and expansion, and we are confident Alex is that person.”
Chriss will join PayPal and its Board from Intuit, where he served as Executive Vice President and General Manager of the company’s Small Business and Self-Employed Group. He has been with Intuit for more than 19 years after starting out as a Group Manager of Business Development and Channel Sales of the Quickbase business unit.
During his tenure at Intuit, Chriss grew the Small Business segment’s customers at a 20% CAGR and its revenues at a 23% CAGR. In 2021, he led Intuit’s successful $12 billion acquisition of Mailchimp.
“PayPal is an extraordinary company that plays a critical role in the lives of consumers and merchants all over the world,” said Chriss. “Throughout my career, I have championed small and medium businesses and entrepreneurs, who are the backbone of every economy in the world. I am proud to take the baton from Dan and thrilled to have the opportunity to work with PayPal’s talented and committed team to build on PayPal’s remarkable history and draw on its unique capabilities to deliver outstanding products and services to businesses and consumers.”
PayPal launched its new stablecoin, PayPal USD (PYUSD) today.
PayPal USD is backed by U.S. dollar deposits, short-term U.S. treasuries, and cash equivalents. The coin is redeemable 1:1 for U.S. dollars.
The new offering is designed for digital payments and Web3 and will be available on Venmo “soon.”
Fully backed by U.S. dollar deposits, short-term U.S. treasuries, and cash equivalents, PayPal’s new stablecoin, PayPal USDis now live. The stablecoin – PYUSD – is designed for digital payments, and is compatible with most digital asset exchanges, wallets, and Web3 apps. Eligible U.S. PayPal customers who buy the coin will be able to transfer it to external wallets, send it via P2P payments, and use it to fund purchases at PayPal-supported checkouts. PYUSD holders will also be able to convert their cryptocurrencies into and from PYUSD, which is redeemable 1:1 for U.S. dollars.
PayPal president and CEO Dan Schulman said that the successful adoption of crypto will need stablecoins like PYUSD. “The shift toward digital currencies requires a stable instrument that is both digitally native and easily connected to fiat currency like the U.S. dollar,” Schulman explained. Moreover, Schulman noted that PayPal – with its “commitment to responsible innovation and compliance” – and powerful brand – is in an ideal position to play this role via its PayPal USD offering. He added that PYUSD will be compatible with Web3 apps from the start and will soon be available on Venmo, as well.
PayPal USD is an ERC-20 token issued on the Ethereum blockchain. The stablecoin is managed by Paxos Trust Company. Paxos has indicated that it will publish a monthly Reserve Report for PYUSD outlining the instruments composing the coin’s reserves. The first such report is expected in September.
PayPal has been a Finovate alum since 2011. In the years since, the fintech has grown into a payments leader with more than 435 million active consumer and merchant accounts, and nearly 30,000 employees. The company has facilitated more than 22 billion payment transactions, representing a total payment volume of $1.36 trillion. Founded in 1998 (as Confinity), eBay acquired the company in 2002 for $1.5 billion. eBay spun off PayPal to its shareholders in 2015, returning the firm to its independent status.
PayPal is a public company, trading under the ticker symbol PYPL on the NASDAQ exchange. The San Jose, California-based fintech has a market cap of $71 billion.
