PayPal CEO Dan Schulman is looking at ways to make it easier for people outside of the financial frameworks of banks and the like to get by.
Schulman says: “There’s a saying that it’s expensive to be poor. You want to cash a check, send money to a loved one, get credit, even pay your bills. For those who are outside the financial system — and there are over 70 million adults in the U.S. and over 2 billion people in the world — those basic consumer transactions can be incredibly time-consuming — you stand in line for 30 to 45 minutes — and very expensive. On average, an underserved consumer spends 10% of their disposable income on unnecessary fees and interest rates. So democratizing financial service is basically saying the following: We want managing and moving your money to be a right for all citizens, not just the privileged, or the affluent.”
He’s not wrong, of course. Those people in dire straits, or just people in very ordinary financial situations, can and do spend a lot of money just doing every day transactions. His analysis is as true in the UK as it is regarding the USA. What’s less clear from his statement is exactly what Paypal can do about the problem. He’s identified a problem but not necessarily offered a solution.
But he has most effectively identified an opportunity. Billions of people around the world need access to financial solutions. Whether it’s the opportunity to shop, pay online or use mobile payments. When PayPal can successfully plug in there then they will be laughing. Thus far it seems that they can see the opportunity buy don’t yet have answers.
But then PayPal is enjoying success at the moment, and with enlightened leadership from Dan Schulman, and a fair wind behind them, there is very little that they can’t achieve.
One Response
Its expensive to have your account limited and they wank ton of documents, it’s expensive the whole thing