The e-payments industry is “eating” the traditional finance sector – and PayPal is leading the way, says its soon-to-be chief, Dan Schulman.
Addressing PayPal investors for the first time on Tuesday, Schulman laid out his vision for the company. While one in three Americans is already signed up to PayPal, he said that the emerging interest in online payments around the world means that there is still enormous growth potential.
“We have an infinitesimally small percentage of our market,” said Schulman. “On market share, we have .4 or .5 of 1% of our addressable market. We have an enormous runway and opportunity in front of us.”
Despite an underwhelming track record, Schulman hinted that PayPal may continue to explore offline payment solutions such as POS tie-ins. However, the biggest area of focus appears to be mobile.
“Physical money, whether it’s cheques or cash or credit card, are digitizing in front of us,” he said.
“About 40% of the money going through our wallets is in checks or cash. By the end of 2017 that will go to 25%… Mobile is driving this change.”
PayPal demonstrated its interest in the mobile space this week by acquiring the mobile wallet startup Paydiant, and Schulman indicated that the company will continue to develop solutions in this area.
Schulman, who was previously an executive at American Express, will take over as CEO when the PayPal formally separates from eBay in September.
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