In the U.S. alone, more than 30 million Americans are financially underserved and spend 9.5% of their income on interest and fees for alternative financial services. To put it into context, that is about the same portion of income that the average American household spends on food in one year.[1]
„In an era of mobile technology and advanced software platforms, we can do more to unlock the potential of financial technology to improve the financial health of billions of people across the globe. Today, we are taking further steps to help meet that promise.” says Bill Ready, COO and EVP, PayPal.
In collaboration with some of the leading financial institutions in the U.S., in the coming weeks PayPal is introducing new products targeted at unbanked U.S. consumers in order to give access to financial services that are less expensive, less time-consuming and more convenient:
. Expand the ways you use PayPal: The PayPal Cash Mastercard® is free to sign-up for and there are no monthly fees and no minimum balance requirement. The card will let users access the money in their PayPal account to shop online or in stores anywhere Mastercard is accepted or users can withdraw cash from ATMs worldwide, including over 25,000 free MoneyPass® ATMs nationwide.
. More ways to add money to your PayPal account: People who don’t have a bank account can choose to directly deposit their paycheck into their PayPal account for free, so customers can enjoy the benefits of spending their PayPal balance anywhere. Customers who enroll in these features will be eligible to receive FDIC pass-through Insurance on the funds held in their PayPal account, and there is no minimum balance required. Eighty-five percent of today’s transactions are still happening in cash and checks. One service we’ve had for some time lets consumers load cash into their PayPal balance at over 20,000 CVS, 7-Eleven and Rite Aid retail locations in the U.S. to do activities like shop or pay their bills online. Additionally, people can now deposit checks via a mobile device more affordably and conveniently.
According to the Center for Financial Services Innovation (CFSI), financially underserved Americans spent $141 billion in 2015 alone to manage their financial lives.
„We believe mobile technology holds the key to solving this challenge for our customers. When financial services and products are reimagined for the mobile-first customer of today, these services have the potential to become less expensive, more accessible, and much easier to use. We’re excited to take on this challenge, because it speaks to exactly what we do at PayPal: we develop and deliver financial services and products in a mobile-first way – in a way that serves both merchants as well as consumers – and in a way that only PayPal can, due to our partnerships across the ecosystem.”, added Bill Ready.
These new offerings complement PayPal existing products aimed at making it easier for customers to move and manage their money, including the ability to pay with PayPal at millions of merchants, gain access to manageable credit, conveniently and securely make purchases through PayPal One Touch, and more. Additionally, through PayPal’s acquisition and integration of Xoom, consumers can deposit money directly into their bank accounts, to send cash, pay bills and reload prepaid mobile phones to loved ones in more than 60 countries.
„Over the coming months and years, we look forward to introducing a broad set of products, services and partnerships that further democratize financial services for all.” concludes the PayPal representative.
PayPal processed $155 billion in mobile payments in 2017, a 55% increase over 2016. In the fourth quarter of 2017, PayPal added a record high 8.7 million net new customers with P2P payments. From October through December, people used PayPal, Venmo and Xoom to send and receive more than $27 billion to their friends and family in more than 200 markets around the world – up 50% over the fourth quarter of 2016. To put that into context, more than $12 million is sent via PayPal platforms per hour.
[1] U.S. Postal Service, Office of Inspector General. (2014). Providing non-bank financial services for the underserved (RARC-WP-14-007). http://www.uspsoig.gov/sites/default/ les/ document-library- les/2014/rarc-wp-14-007.pdf
Banking 4.0 – „how was the experience for you”
„So many people are coming here to Bucharest, people that I see and interact on linkedin and now I get the change to meet them in person. It was like being to the Football World Cup but this was the World Cup on linkedin in payments and open banking.”
Many more interesting quotes in the video below:
