PayPal Holdings Inc. presides over a global digital and mobile payment platform that facilitates seamless transactions for consumers and merchants worldwide. Known for its trusted payment brands, namely PayPal, Venmo, Zettle, and Honey, the company primarily earns its revenue through transaction fees for the payment services provided, and miscellaneous other services.
In an intense global payments industry comprising robust competition from large corporations such as Visa Inc., Mastercard Inc., and JPMorgan Chase & Co., to nimbler rivals like Square Inc. and Stripe, PayPal stands firm amidst the heavyweights. Its operation is unified and does not breakdown its financial data into separate segments, although it does categorize its income into two types for clarity.
In its fiscal year 2023 report published in February 2024, PayPal recorded a net income of $4.25 billion, reflecting a 76% hike since 2022. Its revenue also observed an 8% uptick on a year-over-year (YOY) basis, amounting to $29.8 billion. As part of its operations, PayPal managed a total payment volume (TPV) of $1.53 trillion and oversaw an active user base of 426 million spread across 200 markets.
Since its establishment in 1998, PayPal has scaled significantly. Becoming eBay's preferred payment processor in 2002 marked a significant milestone for the company. In 2024, under the stewardship of President and CEO Alex Chriss, PayPal, along with Venmo, began to leverage artificial intelligence (AI) for improving user experience to both merchants and consumers.
At the end of 2023, PayPal restructured its operations to align more effectively with consumers, small businesses, and large corporations to streamline end-to-end experiences. Ramping up their operations in May 2024, they announced a revamped leadership team tasked with the creation of a novel advertising platform and fortifying its consumer group and global marketing communications.
The progressive "Tap to Pay" feature debuted by Venmo and Zettle in 2024, empowers small businesses to accept contactless card and digital wallet payments directly via their iPhones without the need for added cost or hardware. As of December 2023, PayPal had employed 27,200 workers within its organization. Based in San Jose, California, PayPal has been committed to providing digital and mobile payment solutions since its inception. Currently, it processes transactions through platforms such as Venmo and continues to boost its revenue via transaction fees on its payments platform.