PayPal Holdings, Inc. is an American technology company that enables digital payments and serves as an electronic alternative to traditional paper methods like checks and money orders.
The company was founded by Ken Howery, Luke Nosek, Max Levchin, Peter Thiel, Yu Pan, and Elon Musk in December 1998 in Palo Alto, California, United States. PayPal went public in February 2002 and trades on the NASDAQ exchange under the ticker ‘PYPL’.
PayPal offers different payment solutions such as PayPal Credit, Braintree, Venmo, Xoom, Paydiant, and ‘Pay in 4‘ products.
The company’s technology links its customers, both merchants, and consumers, around the globe to facilitate the processing of payment transactions, allowing it to connect merchants and consumers.
Through their accounts, PayPal users can purchase and pay for goods, transfer, and withdraw funds. It enables consumers to exchange funds with merchants using funding sources that entail bank account, PayPal account balance, PayPal Credit account, credit and debit card, or other stored value products.
Customers can access services through the web and mobile applications. In 2020, the company launched a cryptocurrency service that enables customers to purchase selected cryptocurrencies.
PayPal main competitors
- Google Wallet
- Wepay
- Skrill
- Stripe
- Authorize.Net
Key PayPal milestones
On October 21, 2020, PayPal announced a new cryptocurrency service allowing customers to use cryptocurrencies to shop at 26 million merchants on the network starting in 2021. The new service received approval from the New York State Department of Financial Services.
In 2015, PayPal acquired Xoom Corporation, a digital money transfer company in a $1.09 billion deal. The acquisition strengthened PayPal’s international business position, giving it access to Xoom’s 1.3 million active U.S. customers.
On May 17, 2018, PayPal acquired Swedish payment processor iZettle for $2.2 billion. This was PayPal’s largest acquisition so far at the time of writing (February 2021).
PayPal Frequently Asked Questions
Does Paypal pay dividends?
Like a majority of growth stocks in the technology sector, PayPal does not pay dividends. The company reinvests the profits back to the business.
Has PayPal stock ever split?
Since going public, PayPal’s stock has never split. The company has not announced any future stock split.
When did eBay complete the separation of PayPal?
eBay finalized the separation of PayPal on July 17, 2015. Each eBay stockholder received one share of PayPal common stock for each share of eBay common stock.
