Latest news with #Chriss
Time of India
a day ago
- Business
- Time of India
Digital wallet payments must flow beyond borders: PayPal CEO Alex Chriss
Academy Empower your mind, elevate your skills Countries like India have made rapid progress in digitising cash and expanding their digital wallet ecosystems , but the real growth in global commerce will come only when these country-specific systems become interoperable, said PayPal chief executive Alex Chriss 'The challenge is that these wallets are very native to a specific geography. They work great locally, but if you travel or want to send money across borders to someone using a different wallet, there really is no mechanism available,' Chriss said in an exclusive video interview with ET from the financial technology company's headquarters in San Jose, India's importance in PayPal's global strategy, Chriss said the company is focused on cross-border payments and wants to leverage the scale of Unified Payments Interface (UPI) to expand access for Indian consumers.'The Indian market is incredibly important to us. We need to play where we can be strong — (cross-border payments). This partnership allows us to work with the strongest payment network in India and enable consumers here to make purchases around the world,' he spoke about PayPal World, a new platform that integrates five major wallets globally: India's UPI, China's TenPay Global, Mexico's Mercado Pago and US-based PayPal and Venmo. This tie-up allows Indian UPI users to shop from international merchants and pay using their UPI app, removing the friction typically associated with cross-border payments. Indian travellers abroad will also be able to use PayPal World for QR code-based and peer-to-peer payments using their local bank service works the other way as well. Foreign travellers visiting India will be able to use their native wallets once enabled on PayPal World for transactions here.'It's important to show commitment from some of the largest wallets, which is why we started with these five, bringing nearly two billion consumers into the ecosystem,' Chriss said. 'The interest is very strong from others, and we'll onboard as many wallets as we can in the coming months.'Chriss took over as PayPal CEO in September 2023, following the retirement of long-time chief Dan Schulman. Previously, he led the small-business division at business software firm exited India's domestic payments business in 2021, but continued to operate in the cross-border segment. In May 2025, it received in-principle approval from the Reserve Bank of India to operate as a cross-border payments aggregator. While it is a global leader in this space, PayPal competes in India with the international arms of homegrown firms like Razorpay and partnering with NPCI International Payments Ltd, the global business unit of National Payments Corporation of India that manages UPI, Chriss said PayPal is aiming to unlock cross-border commerce for Indian merchants and consumers through UPI.'The future of payments is cross-border, and it must be interoperable across domestic wallets. Walled gardens don't deliver real customer benefit,' he told also acknowledged the impact of cryptocurrencies on the global payment infrastructure. Instant payment systems globally now operate under the shadow of crypto, which offers borderless, real-time transactions that often bypass local monetary regulations.'I'm a big proponent of the future of crypto for instant payments. But the biggest issue is still interoperability. If wallets can't work together, the transaction simply can't happen,' he also spoke about the growing complexity of operating across multiple regulatory jurisdictions. 'Yeah, look, if I'm a consumer and I just want to buy something, I don't really care about the global politics of it all. I just want to find the right merchant. And at the end of the day, I think that's what we're going to enable,' he commerce is increasingly at risk of becoming collateral damage amid the ongoing US-triggered tariff war and geopolitical with a market cap of $74 billion, competes with tech giants like Apple Pay, Google Pay and an expanding network of Zelle-powered banking apps. While PayPal remains a global market leader in online checkout and peer-to-peer payments through PayPal and Venmo, competition has intensified across the fintech world. It also faces strong competition from fintech major Stripe, which works with online merchants where PayPal operates its enterprise-focused the quarter ended March 31, PayPal processed payment volume of $417 billion and posted revenue of $7.7 billion. Cross-border volumes stood at around $50 billion, driven largely by intra-European corridors.
Time of India
a day ago
- Business
- Time of India
Digital Wallet Payments must Flow beyond Borders
Countries like India have made rapid progress in digitising cash and expanding their digital wallet ecosystems, but the real growth in global commerce will come only when these country-specific systems become interoperable, said PayPal chief executive Alex Chriss. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Countries like India have made rapid progress in digitising cash and expanding their digital wallet ecosystems, but the real growth in global commerce will come only when these country-specific systems become interoperable, said PayPal chief executive Alex Chriss.'The challenge is that these wallets are very native to a specific geography. They work great locally, but if you travel or want to send money across borders to someone using a different wallet, there really is no mechanism available,' Chriss said in an exclusive video interview with ET from the financial technology company's headquarters in San Jose, India's importance in PayPal's global strategy, Chriss said the company is focused on cross-border payments and wants to leverage the scale of Unified Payments Interface (UPI) to expand access for Indian consumers.'The Indian market is incredibly important to us. We need to play where we can be strong — (cross-border payments). This partnership allows us to work with the strongest payment network in India and enable consumers here to make purchases around the world,' he spoke about PayPal World, a new platform that integrates five major wallets globally: India's UPI, China's TenPay Global, Mexico's Mercado Pago and US-based PayPal and Venmo. This tie-up allows Indian UPI users to shop from international merchants and pay using their UPI app, removing the friction typically associated with cross-border payments. Indian travellers abroad will also be able to use PayPal World for QR code-based and peer-to-peer payments using their local bank service works the other way as well. Foreign travellers visiting India will be able to use their native wallets once enabled on PayPal World for transactions here.'It's important to show commitment from some of the largest wallets, which is why we started with these five, bringing nearly two billion consumers into the ecosystem,' Chriss said. 'The interest is very strong from others, and we'll onboard as many wallets as we can in the coming months.'Chriss took over as PayPal CEO in September 2023, following the retirement of long-time chief Dan Schulman. Previously, he led the small-business division at business software firm exited India's domestic payments business in 2021, but continued to operate in the cross-border segment. In May 2025, it received in-principle approval from the Reserve Bank of India to operate as a cross-border payments aggregator. While it is a global leader in this space, PayPal competes in India with the international arms of homegrown firms like Razorpay and partnering with NPCI International Payments Ltd, the global business unit of National Payments Corporation of India that manages UPI, Chriss said PayPal is aiming to unlock cross-border commerce for Indian merchants and consumers through UPI.'The future of payments is cross-border, and it must be interoperable across domestic wallets. Walled gardens don't deliver real customer benefit,' he told also acknowledged the impact of cryptocurrencies on the global payment infrastructure. Instant payment systems globally now operate under the shadow of crypto, which offers borderless, real-time transactions that often bypass local monetary regulations.
Business Times
2 days ago
- Business
- Business Times
PayPal to create global digital wallet platform with Tenpay, UPI
[NEW YORK] PayPal Holdings is launching a platform that will enable customers with domestic digital wallets to easily transact with businesses globally, as the payments giant seeks to capture a bigger chunk of the international market. The company's PayPal World platform will allow 'interoperability' between the local digital wallets and PayPal, according to a statement. Its initial partners on the platform include MercadoLibre's Mercado Pago, National Payments Corporation of India's UPI and Tencent Holdings' Tenpay Global, meaning customers with those wallets will be able to send money internationally or shop overseas by clicking on the PayPal button without needing to set up a PayPal account from scratch. 'There has never been an interoperable global network that connects wallets together until now,' PayPal chief executive officer Alex Chriss said. 'If you are a small wallet in a small geography in the world, you can now integrate with PayPal World.' Merchants that use PayPal will also be able to accept payments from those wallets without having to invest in new technology to integrate with the various providers. The platform will go live later this year. The aim is for the platform to also add additional partner wallets in the future, according to the statement. PayPal cited an example of a consumer in India wanting to buy sneakers from a US-based online store. Instead of having to set up a PayPal account, that person can click on the PayPal button and easily connect with their already-established UPI account. This product is part of PayPal's recent push to ramp up innovation. Last month, the company announced a new credit card and said earlier this year that it was planning to integrate its stablecoin into more of its products. The company also plans to add artificial intelligence and stablecoin use cases to the digital wallet platform at some point. 'The challenge of moving money across borders is incredibly complex, and yet this platform will make it so simple for nearly two billion consumers and businesses,' Chriss said. BLOOMBERG
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
PayPal targets European branded service growth
This story was originally published on Payments Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Payments Dive newsletter. PayPal Holdings is planning to start rolling out its omnichannel strategy in Europe this quarter, beginning with Germany, as it seeks to persuade consumers to use its payment platform for a variety of offline purchases, as well as digital transactions. PayPal introduced its 'Everywhere' omnichannel strategy in the U.S. in September, offering cashback and other rewards to prompt retail spending at restaurants, grocery stores and gas stations, with plans to target Europe in 2025. German consumers will see an NFC contactless payment option this quarter, followed by the omnichannel rollout in the U.K. in the third quarter, Chief Executive Officer Alex Chriss said Tuesday on a quarterly earnings conference call. The two countries are its largest European markets and they are the biggest outside the U.S. In the U.K., PayPal also introduced payment app improvements for consumers last year that include biometric functionality to enable two-factor authentication, Chriss said. PayPal says the two countries are its largest European markets. 'We've really suffered in the last few years with what I would consider to be one of our poorest app experiences for consumers,' Chriss said of the U.K. market, adding that the former app 'really was choppy and created a lot of friction and a lot of latency in the experience.' Nodding to the impact of U.S. tariffs, PayPal declined to update its full-year forecast Tuesday despite a robust jump in first-quarter profits. Company executives expressed confidence about consumer spending in the current quarter, but warned that it's unclear how consumers may behave later in 2025, given the uncertainties around President Donald Trump's trade war. PayPal, which is based in San Jose, California, has been battling tepid growth with its flagship payments service, prompting a revamped strategy last year under Chriss, a former Intuit executive who joined the company in September 2023. PayPal executives also noted a surge in payment volume for April, which they attributed to many consumers shifting forward their purchases ahead of potential price hikes due to U.S. tariffs. That trend is likely to taper off in the current quarter, Chief Financial Officer Jamie Miller said. 'With a strong first quarter behind us and a good start to the second, we believe we are on pace to outperform our original expectations for the first half of 2025,' Miller said. 'At the same time, given uncertainty in the environment and the potential for a wide range of outcomes, we are appropriately cautious.' Miller said that consumer spending and the jobs market have 'proven resilient, but it remains to be seen how tariffs and other trading friction will impact global economic activity, consumer spending and supply chains over time.' Despite the murky outlook, PayPal said it benefits from a diversified business, with offerings in various geographies and a 50-50 split in the sale of goods and services. 'We are a lot more diversified today than we were a few years ago,' Miller said. About 10% of retail is fashion, but the segment also covers variety and discount stores, beauty, sports, pets and toys, she said. 'I think we're really positioned well to capture spend as it may shift amongst categories' in a downturn, Miller said. RBC Capital Markets analyst Daniel Perlin cut his sales and per-share earnings forecast for PayPal on Tuesday, citing 'macro uncertainty and the company's transition in progress.' PayPal will also struggle in the competitive digital wallet landscape as it 'lacks a consumer and merchant value proposition capable of meaningfully accelerating branded volume and transaction dollar growth,' William Blair analyst Andrew Jeffrey wrote Tuesday in a client note. He said PayPal's four million debit cards count lags market leaders such as Cash App, which has 25 million. In Germany, consumers connect to a bank to use PayPal for online purchases, giving the company an 'extremely high' market presence in electronic commerce, Chriss said. 'That's what gives us a lot of confidence as we now move into offline,' he said. 'We're really going to be one of the first at-scale, bank-connected, offline wallets that we think will be able to drive significant penetration in the market.' PayPal's first-quarter net income climbed 45% over the same period of 2024, to $1.29 billion, even as net revenue rose just 1% to $7.8 billion, according to the income report. Total payment volume rose 4% to $417.2 billion in the first quarter compared to the same quarter last year. Under Chriss, the company's unbranded Braintree business has been prioritizing higher pricing at the expense of sales volume. Correction: This story has been updated to correct the PayPal service upgrades that have been put in place, and are planned, for Germany and the U.K. Recommended Reading PayPal pays up for talent
CNBC
29-04-2025
- Business
- CNBC
PayPal reports first-quarter earnings beat, maintains forecast
PayPal reported better-than-expected earnings for the first quarter, but the company missed on revenue and reaffirmed its guidance for 2025 due to macro uncertainty. The stock fell about 2% in pre-market trading. Here's how the company did compared with Wall Street estimates, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG: While sales increased just 1% from $7.7 billion a year earlier, PayPal said the results reflect a strategy to prioritize profitability over volume, rolling off lower-margin revenue streams. Transaction margin dollars, the company's key measure of profitability, grew 7% to $3.7 billion, marking the company's fifth consecutive quarter of profitable growth under CEO Alex Chriss. Total payment volume, an indication of how digital payments are faring in the broader economy, missed estimates, coming in at $417.2 billion, versus the nearly $418 billion analysts projected. The number of active accounts rose 2% from a year earlier to 436 million. Venmo revenue rose 20% year over year, though the company didn't provide a dollar figure. Total payment volume for Venmo increased 10% to $75.9 billion. Pay with Venmo transaction volume climbed 50% in the quarter and Venmo debit card monthly active users increased by about 40%. Chriss has focused on better monetizing key acquisitions like Braintree and Venmo. DoorDash, Starbucks and Ticketmaster are among businesses now accepting Venmo as one way that consumers can pay. Ahead of PayPal's earnings report, some analysts had struck a cautious tone despite the company's focus on margin expansion. Morgan Stanley analysts warned in a note on Monday that investor sentiment remained bearish due to the potential impact of tariffs, competitive pressure from Apple and Shopify, and the risk of a long-term slowdown in branded checkout growth. Jefferies analysts highlighted PayPal's China cross-border exposure as an emerging risk tied to potential new tariffs and changes to the de minimis exemption. For the second quarter, PayPal issued better-than-expected guidance, forecasting adjusted earnings per share of $1.29 to $1.31, above the average analyst estimate of $1.21. Transaction margin dollars will increase 4% to 5% to between $3.75 billion and $3.8 billion, the company said. However, for the full year, PayPal chose to reaffirm its guidance, citing "global macroeconomic uncertainty." The company expects earnings per share of $4.95 to $5.10 for the year and free cash flow in the range of $6 billion to $7 billion. PayPal shares are down 24% this year, while the Nasdaq has dropped 10%.
