PayPal’s Mobile Payments Buying Spree Won’t Stop Soon
We’ve all noticed that PayPal has been buying companies up left, right and center in a bid to establish more services and deliver more value to its end users. PayPal’s buying plans won’t be stopping any time soon, though, as word out of the company says that PayPal has a hefty war chest ready this year, and it may continue to be so loaded into the next few years to come.
Word out of Dan Schulman, PayPal’s president and CEO, is that the company has set aside up to $3 billion annually for future acquisition efforts. What’s more, that $3 billion may not be a hard-and-fast number but rather a guideline, as Schulman noted “I wouldn’t rule out that we take on a bigger deal if there’s a good fit for us.”
After dropping $2.2 billion on iZettle and $400 million for Hyperwallet—along with an unnoted sum for Simility—much of that $3 billion is likely spent for this year. Given that we’re now fully into the second half of the year, PayPal may just be pulling in its talons for a while and figuring out who to pick up next.
The whole thrust of the acquisition frenzy, a company statement noted, is to focus on”…localized, multi-currency payment distribution capabilities…with numerous disbursement options, including prepaid card, bank account, debit card, cash pickup, check and PayPal.”
A good plan, and a plan that likely looked even more necessary when there was talk of eBay separating itself from PayPal. With that plan scuttled in the short-term, if not for good, it takes on a new light. This isn’t just PayPal reacting to trouble ahead, but rather proactively rebuilding itself to do more, reach more users, and make its income more secure going forward.
It likely wasn’t lost on PayPal that the loss of eBay would have meant a big hit to its bottom line. The moves we’re seeing PayPal embark on now are likely those that are going to propel the company into its future. PayPal saw potential disaster coming and worked to avert it. Even though the disaster didn’t strike, the company still has the groundwork laid for a post-eBay future, and it’s a future that looks even brighter with eBay in play.