When PayPal and eBay made the split over two years ago, one of the major benefits touted was that PayPal would have the freedom to spread its wings and do deals with other firms and marketplaces that the eBay attachment made difficult. PayPal for Marketplaces marks a new horizon.
Of course, the eBay and PayPal divorce settlement means that the marketplace has to keep on processing the vast majority of payments via PayPal but the payments firm got the freedom to strike deals and branch out. This new enterprise looks like the next step on that journey. PayPal for Marketplaces means they can truly be polyamourous.
You can read the full announcement here: “PayPal for Marketplaces is a comprehensive and flexible payment solution for businesses accepting and disbursing funds — whether consumers pay using their PayPal wallet, credit cards or debit cards. Marketplace businesses—from ride sharing and room-rental platforms, to online crowdfunding portals and peer-to-peer e-commerce sites—have unique needs, like collecting commissions and fees, setting payouts and multi-party disbursements. And because of PayPal’s global reach, we can support buyers in more than 200 markets and sellers in more than 120 markets. We can also tailor our solution based on the marketplace’s need. For example, for marketplaces that don’t want to take on all of the risk, we offer solutions that allow PayPal to help manage the risk. But we also offer a solution for other marketplaces that want more control and risk ownership.”
So far the announced deals are with reasonably small players when it comes to online marketplaces in the Ecommerce field (although the deal with Uber can scarcely be considered weeny) but that can easily change. The gold standard and desirable deal with a marketplace that has to be devoutly to be wished for is surely one with Amazon. We doubt that is either impossible or distant.
