- Introduction
It’s hard to remember a time when using a bank account was the only way to pay for goods and services. It’s a pre-internet world.
Today there are countless other ways to pay via digital wallets like Venmo, Apple Pay, and Dwolla. But, arguably, the leader of them all is PayPal. It was the first to emerge, back in 1999 and today it boasts over 425 million active users, both businesses and consumers.
It’s been adopted by the virtual sector as a way to pay and receive money, with a particular emphasis on the ones that operate online.
These days, if your business doesn’t offer PayPal as a payment method you’re likely to be left behind, in the iGaming industry Casino.org review the best PayPal casinos in Canada as they are aware of the demand for a site offering highly secure transactions in a timely manner.
Throughout its 25-year history there have been changes of ownership, tactical acquisitions, and a string of innovations which have helped it reach the stage it’s at today.
- PayPal Timeline
July 1999 – The launch of PayPal
Nov 1999 – A fully functional website is launched
June 2000 – Paid accounts that require verification and offer guarantees against fraud introduced
Oct 2022 – eBay acquires PayPal for $1.5 billion
Nov 2008 – PayPal acquires Bill Me Later
Aug 2009 – PayPal sets up student accounts
June 2011 – PayPal hits 100,000 users worldwide
June 2012 – a New, sleeker website launched
Nov 2013 – Pre-paid gift cards launched in time for the holiday season
Sep 2014 – PayPal splits from eBay
Nov 2015 – PayPal joins Fortune 500 for the first time
Feb 2016 – Relaunch of PayPal App
Dec 2023 – PayPal’s revenue from transactions and other services reaches $29.8 billion from 426 million active users
- Business benefits
Cash flow is the lifeblood of every business. Without a good, reliable stream of income businesses will struggle to survive, let alone thrive.
Ones that use PayPal can be sure that it enables their customers to pay them quickly and securely with the reassurance that if disputes do arise there is an efficient resolution center ready to step in. They are also fully protected against fraudulent activity. This is thanks to other businesses that PayPal has acquired along the way including Fraud Sciences in 2008.
It has also invested heavily in Infrastructure As Code as it is a business that simply can’t afford downtime if it’s to retain its reputation for reliability.
In an increasingly global marketplace, the fact that it can receive multiple forms of payment, across 25 different currencies in 200 markets is also invaluable.
Businesses are also often stung with big fees from banks and other financial institutions. But, beyond initial set-up costs, there are no additional ones.
- Consumer benefits
When it comes to consumers. PayPal has its list of benefits that make it possible to purchase from literally millions of online stores in the 200 markets across the world served by the application.
What’s more, signing up for a PayPal account is completely free of charge and the use of its app makes both sending and receiving money completely free of charge. There’s even a service included that can automatically pay monthly bills, for example to power companies or even rent.
The key benefits can be grouped into three distinct areas:
- It’s secure: A great deal of investment has gone into making using PayPal as secure as it can be. This is through encryption as well as using state-of-the-art authentication techniques. So users can be sure that their financial information and transactions are safe from fraudulent activity.
- It’s fast: Because a user’s details are stored by PayPal’s wallet, they don’t need to enter them each time they make a purchase, saving time entering financial information.
- It’s easy: Everything has been done to make using PayPal as frictionless as possible, and continuous development is regularly adding new features to the service.
- The future
PayPal’s history has been one of innovation and it continues to break new ground.
In the near future, we can expect to see an increasing use of AI, for example by using chatbots to give users even more comprehensive user support.
In addition, there is likely to be a merging of the blockchain technology that underpins cryptocurrencies. The main purpose of this will be to enhance the service provided when dealing with multiple currencies, as well as add an extra level of security.
It is also actively working in emerging markets where the current infrastructure such as internet access may be limited. The aim is to provide a truly global service.
So we can expect to see many new chapters in the story of PayPal being written, many of which are already well underway.