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Tag: paypal

  • BillSafe Acquired By eBay

    BillSafe Acquired By eBay

    eBay announced that it has acquired BillSafe, a purchase-on-invoice technology provider. eBay will combine the technology with PayPal in Germany.

    eBay has owned a minority stake in BillSafe since October 2010. Now it owns the whole thing.

    eBay says BillSafe works with merchants of all sizes in Germany, where there are already over 15 million PayPal accounts. Purchase-on-invoice is the most popular form of payment in Germany, as well as in Austria, Switzerland, and the Netherlands, eBay says.

    “German customers are extremely security-conscious, and they enjoy the convenience and safety of invoicing when they shop online. One of PayPal’s greatest assets is the security of our system, and we’re glad that we can now offer customers even more peace of mind with a payment method that they already know and prefer and that drives more sales for the merchants,” says Arnulf Keese, managing director of PayPal Germany. “Together with BillSAFE, we can offer even more choices to our customers – whether they prefer to pay with their bank accounts, their credit cards or now through purchase on invoice.”

    “Purchase on invoice is an ideal addition to the payment options available with PayPal and makes it the most comprehensive service for consumers and merchants alike,” said Alexander Ey, managing director of BillSAFE. “Security-conscious shoppers can receive and inspect the merchandise they bought online before paying for their purchases. And merchants can sell to customers who were previously skeptical of buying online. It’s an ideal match.”

    Terms of the deal were not disclosed. eBay says it doesn’t expect the acquisition to have a material impact on its financial guidance as issued in its Q3 earnings release.

  • PayPal Apologizes for Holiday Mess; Twitter Reacts

    PayPal found itself in hot water after a blog post made the rounds this morning showing how the company had seriously mishandled attempts by Regretsy to use the service to donate money and toys to needy children for Christmas.

    The blog post detailing the debacle went up on Regretsy last night and was picked up by Twitter this morning. In response to the backlash PayPal backed down, unfreezing the account in question and making a donation to boot. Below are some of posts that made the rounds on Twitter today.

    On The Anniversary Of Cutting Off #WikiLeaks, PayPal Slaps Christmas Charity Project by @a_greenberg: http://t.co/IvGRYRDz 3 hours ago via web · powered by @socialditto

    Paypal Grinches Shut Down Toy Drive For Needy Kids http://t.co/uHjGx1u5 5 hours ago via jezebel · powered by @socialditto

    Wow, @paypal. You are a horrific service staffed by people who move beyond incompetent into the realm of actively evil: http://t.co/cbOVAmEO 5 hours ago via web · powered by @socialditto

    Come on, PayPal. You messed up, your representative was a jerk, and you need to admit your mistake and make this right. http://t.co/35UX76jk 4 hours ago via web · powered by @socialditto

    So how did PayPal get so stupid, so rude, and so completely unhelpful?! 6 hours ago via Echofon · powered by @socialditto

    wow @PayPal, if even half-true, you’ve colossally done bad. it’s possible to fix — so please do (or I’m out)! http://t.co/99ySEysX 6 hours ago via Echofon · powered by @socialditto

    Eventually, PayPal took to Twitter with their response:

    We have released funds back to http://t.co/o8wpIBuE and will be making a donation. We are very sorry this occurred. http://t.co/MYwC0fPW 4 hours ago via web · powered by @socialditto

    However, that was not enough for some, who found parts of PayPal’s apology wanting.

    http://t.co/kgMwUx9f Seriously, @paypal. Release the statement AFTER doing the things you say you’ve already done. 2 hours ago via web · powered by @socialditto

    [P] From PayPal’s response: “We have clear guidelines for any business that uses PayPal to accept donations.” Well, no. http://t.co/pDWY6SY1 4 hours ago via web · powered by @socialditto

    Glad @Paypal is starting to take steps to fix their @Regretsy screwup. But this should only be the start – it’s still not enough. 1 hour ago via web · powered by @socialditto

    Why does it take public scrutiny for you to do the decent thing, @paypal ? http://t.co/BDDr7ZBB Longer dissection here: http://t.co/hObdG5ET 8 minutes ago via HootSuite · powered by @socialditto

    While others were simply grateful that PayPal did the right thing at all.

    Glad to see @PayPal back down concerning @Regretsy. Had me looking at closing my account for a second there. 8 minutes ago via web · powered by @socialditto

  • PayPal Send Money: A New Facebook App

    PayPal has a new Facebook app, which lets you send money to your friends with or without a greeting card. The app is simply called PayPal Send Money, and it’s in beta. The description on the app page says:

    Send money to friends and family with PayPal, and include a customized greeting card for that personal touch. With hundreds of cards to choose from, we have the perfect card for any occasion.

    PayPal Send Money is the fast, secure, and social way to send money for gifts, special events, or any occasion. The Send Money Facebook app provides the same level of security trusted by millions of PayPal users.

    Users are presented with the option to either send a card with money, or just send money. It requires you to give permission to see your friends list. You can send money to a Facebook friend or anyone with an email address.

    Send Money on Facebook

    Note that while the app will post the card to the person’s wall, it will only display the money to you and the recipient. On the wall, it will look something like this:

    Send Money

    You can personalize it by including pictures, YouTube videos, or videos recorded with your webcam.

    Then, just add the amount you want to give them. You can even control the currency right from the app.

    Hat tip to Mashable for first reporting on the app.

    In other PayPal news, the company is warning people that they need to upgrade their browsers if they’re using old ones. They’re displaying messages to this effect on PayPal.com. PayPal Chief Information Security Officer Michael Barrett writes on the PayPal Blog:

    The reason is simple. Browser vendors make significant investments in security functionality from one version of a browser to the next. As security bugs are found in browsers – and this happens on a surprisingly regular basis – vendors will only issue fixes for those bugs in the supported versions of their browsers. This means that it’s important to keep your browser up-to-date, so you can take advantage of the improved security in the newest version.

    However, a small percentage of Internet users aren’t aware of the risks posed by older browsers and continue to use the more unstable versions, which is why we’ve implemented a system of “gentle reminders” on paypal.com. These reminders don’t force anyone to upgrade, but they are persistent enough that we hope people notice them and take action accordingly. At PayPal, we believe security is of the utmost importance.

  • eBay Q3 Earnings Released

    eBay Q3 Earnings Released

    eBay released its Q3 earnings report, which includes $3 billion in revenue for the quarter, up 32% year-over-year.

    “Our company reported another strong quarter, with eBay, PayPal and GSI each performing well,” said President and CEO John Donahoe. “Mobile commerce continues to accelerate as consumers change the way they shop and pay. We expect eBay mobile commerce to generate almost $5 billion in merchandise volume this year and PayPal mobile to exceed $3.5 billion in payment volume. Mobile is one way online and offline shopping are blending into a single commerce environment. We are focused on enabling commerce, helping consumers shop anytime, anywhere, and being the commerce partner of choice for retailers of all sizes.”

    PayPal accounts were up 14% year-over-year, with 103 million active registered accounts. PayPal’s revenue alone was up 32% year-over-year. The company attributes this to increased penetration on eBay itself, in addition to continued merchant and consumer adoption.

    Here’s the release in its entirety:

    eBay Inc. Reports Strong Third Quarter 2011 Results

    SAN JOSE, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Global ecommerce and online payments leader eBay Inc. (Nasdaq:EBAY) today reported that revenue for the third quarter ended September 30, 2011, increased 32% to $3.0 billion, compared to the same period of 2010. The company reported third quarter net income on a GAAP basis of $490.5 million, or $0.37 per diluted share, and non-GAAP net income of $628.2 million, or $0.48 per diluted share. The year-over-year increase in third quarter GAAP and non-GAAP earnings per diluted share was driven primarily by strong top-line growth, partially offset by continued investment in key strategic initiatives and the impact of acquisitions.

    “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”

    “Our company reported another strong quarter, with eBay, PayPal and GSI each performing well,” said eBay Inc. President and CEO John Donahoe. “Mobile commerce continues to accelerate as consumers change the way they shop and pay. We expect eBay mobile commerce to generate almost $5 billion in merchandise volume this year and PayPal mobile to exceed $3.5 billion in payment volume. Mobile is one way online and offline shopping are blending into a single commerce environment. We are focused on enabling commerce, helping consumers shop anytime, anywhere, and being the commerce partner of choice for retailers of all sizes.”

    The company’s PayPal business continued to expand its leadership position in global payments. PayPal ended the quarter with 103.0 million active registered accounts, a 14% increase year over year. PayPal revenue increased 32% year over year driven primarily by increased penetration on eBay as well as continued merchant and consumer adoption. PayPal’s net total payment volume (TPV) grew 31% to $29.3 billion in the third quarter of 2011 compared to the same period of last year. PayPal continues to invest in innovation, focusing on the core platform, as well as mobile and point of sale initiatives. PayPal expects to generate more than $3.5 billion in mobile TPV in 2011, up from $750 million in 2010.

    The company’s Marketplaces business also delivered a strong third quarter performance. Gross merchandise volume (GMV) excluding vehicles increased by 16% year over year to $14.7 billion. U.S. GMV excluding vehicles increased 14% year over year, driven by continued improvements in customer experience on the site and growth in key shopping categories. International GMV excluding vehicles increased 18% year over year to $9.1 billion, reflecting solid growth in Europe, continued improved performance in Korea, as well as a positive impact from foreign exchange. Improved cross border trade performance contributed to GMV growth as currencies strengthened against the U.S. dollar. The company continued to benefit from growing adoption of its suite of mobile applications as downloads surpassed 50 million globally since the launch of mobile in the third quarter of 2008. eBay expects to generate almost $5 billion in mobile GMV in 2011, more than double mobile GMV in 2010.

    The company’s GSI business, which was acquired in the second quarter of 2011, contributed $202.6 million in revenue for the third quarter. GSI generated $608 million in global ecommerce (GeC) merchandise sales during the quarter.

    Third Quarter 2011 Financial Highlights (presented in millions, except per share data and percentages)

    Third Quarter
    2011 2010 Change
    GAAP
    Net revenue $ 2,966 $ 2,249 $ 717 32 %
    Net income $ 491 $ 432 $ 59 14 %
    Earnings per diluted share $ 0.37 $ 0.33 $ 0.04 12 %
    Non-GAAP
    Net income $ 628 $ 531 $ 97 18 %
    Earnings per diluted share $ 0.48 $ 0.40 $ 0.08 20 %
    Business Units
    Payments
    Net revenue $ 1,107 $ 838 $ 269 32 %
    Net total payment volume $ 29,282 $ 22,365 $ 6,917 31 %
    Merchant Services $ 19,314 $ 14,161 $ 5,153 36 %
    On eBay $ 9,968 $ 8,204 $ 1,764 22 %
    Marketplaces
    Net revenue $ 1,653 $ 1,411 $ 242 17 %
    Gross merchandise volume (excl. vehicles) $ 14,666 $ 12,591 $ 2,075 16 %
    U.S. $ 5,588 $ 4,900 $ 688 14 %
    International $ 9,078 $ 7,691 $ 1,387 18 %
    GSI
    Net revenue $ 203 $ $ 203 N/A
    GeC Merchandise Sales $ 608 $ $ 608 N/A

    Other Selected Financial Results

    • Operating margin — GAAP operating margin decreased to 18.1% for the third quarter of 2011, compared to 21.8% for the same period last year. Non-GAAP operating margin decreased to 25.3% for the quarter, compared to 28.7% for the same period last year. The decrease in GAAP and non-GAAP operating margin was due primarily to the impact of acquisitions and business mix, partially offset by productivity gains.
    • Taxes — The GAAP effective tax rate for the third quarter of 2011 was 20%, compared to 16% for the third quarter of 2010. The higher effective tax rate was due to geographic mix, acquisitions and other factors. For the third quarter of 2011 and 2010, the non-GAAP effective tax rate was 21%.
    • Cash flow — The company generated $809 million of operating cash flow and $526 million of free cash flow during the third quarter.
    • Stock repurchase program — The company repurchased approximately $33 million of its common stock in the third quarter.
    • Cash and cash equivalents and non-equity investments — The company’s cash and cash equivalents and non-equity investments portfolio totaled $5.8 billion at September 30, 2011, compared to $7.8 billion at December 31, 2010.

    Business Outlook

    • Fourth quarter 2011 — eBay expects net revenues in the range of $3,200 – $3,350 million with GAAP earnings per diluted share in the range of $1.47 – $1.53 and non-GAAP earnings per diluted share in the range of $0.55 – $0.58. GAAP earnings per diluted share includes the gain from the sale of our remaining equity interest in Skype.
    • Full year 2011 — eBay now expects net revenues in the range of $11,500 – $11,600 million with GAAP earnings per diluted share in the range of $2.42 – $2.48 and non-GAAP earnings per diluted share in the range of $1.98 – $2.01. GAAP earnings per diluted share includes the gain from the sale of our remaining equity interest in Skype.

    Quarterly Conference Call

    eBay will host a conference call to discuss third quarter 2011 results at 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time today. A live webcast of the conference call, together with a slide presentation that includes supplemental financial information and reconciliations of certain non-GAAP measures to their nearest comparable GAAP measures, can be accessed through the company’s Investor Relations website at http://investor.ebayinc.com. In addition, an archive of the webcast will be accessible for 90 days through the same link.

    About eBay Inc.

    Founded in 1995 in San Jose, Calif., eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY) is about enabling commerce. We do so through eBay, the world’s largest online marketplace, which allows users to buy and sell in nearly every country on earth; through PayPal, which enables individuals and businesses to securely, easily and quickly send and receive online payments; and through GSI, which facilitates ecommerce, multichannel retailing and digital marketing for global enterprises. X.commerce brings together the technology assets and developer communities of eBay, PayPal and Magento, an ecommerce platform, to support eBay Inc.’s mission of enabling commerce. We also reach millions through specialized marketplaces such as StubHub, the world’s largest ticket marketplace, and eBay classifieds sites, which together have a presence in more than 1,000 cities around the world. For more information about the company and its global portfolio of online brands, visit www.ebayinc.com.

    Non-GAAP Financial Measures

    This press release includes the following financial measures defined as “non-GAAP financial measures” by the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC: non-GAAP net income, non-GAAP earnings per diluted share, non-GAAP operating margin, non-GAAP effective tax rate and free cash flow. These measures may be different from non-GAAP financial measures used by other companies. The presentation of this financial information, which is not prepared under any comprehensive set of accounting rules or principles, is not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. For a reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures to the nearest comparable GAAP measures, see “Business Outlook,” “Non-GAAP Measures of Financial Performance,” “Reconciliation of GAAP Operating Margin to Non-GAAP Operating Margin,” “Reconciliation of GAAP Net Income to Non-GAAP Net Income,” “Reconciliation of GAAP Effective Tax Rate to Non-GAAP Effective Tax Rate” and “Reconciliation of Operating Cash Flow to Free Cash Flow” included in this press release.

    Forward-Looking Statements

    This press release contains forward-looking statements relating to, among other things, the future performance of eBay and its consolidated subsidiaries that are based on the company’s current expectations, forecasts and assumptions and involve risks and uncertainties. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding expected financial results for the fourth quarter and full year 2011 and the future growth in the Payments, Marketplaces and GSI businesses. The company’s actual results could differ materially from those predicted or implied and reported results should not be considered as an indication of future performance. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to: changes in political, business and economic conditions, including any conditions that affect ecommerce growth; fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates; the company’s ability to profitably integrate, manage and grow businesses that have been acquired recently or may be acquired in the future, including GSI; the company’s need to increasingly achieve growth from its existing users, particularly in its more established markets; the company’s ability to deal with the increasingly competitive ecommerce environment, including competition for its sellers from other trading sites and other means of selling, and competition for its buyers from other merchants, online and offline; the company’s need to manage an increasingly large enterprise with a broad range of businesses of varying degrees of maturity and in many different geographies; the effect of management changes and business initiatives; the company’s need and ability to manage other regulatory, tax and litigation risks as its services are offered in more jurisdictions and applicable laws become more restrictive; any changes the company may make to its product offerings; the competitive, regulatory, credit card association-related and other risks specific to PayPal and Bill Me Later, especially as PayPal continues to expand geographically and grow its open platform initiative and as new laws and regulations related to financial services companies come into effect; the company’s ability to timely upgrade and develop its systems, infrastructure and customer service capabilities, including GSI’s v.11 initiative, at reasonable cost; and the company’s ability to maintain site stability and performance on all of its sites while adding new products and features in a timely fashion. The forward-looking statements in this release do not include the potential impact of any acquisitions or divestitures that may be announced and/or completed after the date hereof.

    More information about factors that could affect the company’s operating results is included under the captions “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in the company’s most recent annual report on Form 10-K and subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, copies of which may be obtained by visiting the company’s Investor Relations website at http://investor.ebayinc.com or the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. Undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements in this release, which are based on information available to the company on the date hereof. eBay assumes no obligation to update such statements.

    eBay Inc.

    Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet

    September 30,
    2011
    December 31,
    2010
    (In thousands)
    ASSETS
    Current assets:
    Cash and cash equivalents $ 2,998,950 $ 5,577,411
    Short-term investments 1,013,924 1,045,403
    Accounts receivable, net 595,716 454,366
    Loans and interest receivable, net 1,186,870 956,189
    Funds receivable and customer accounts 3,295,115 2,550,731
    Other current assets 671,770 481,238
    Total current assets 9,762,345 11,065,338
    Long-term investments 3,018,596 2,492,012
    Property and equipment, net 1,859,190 1,523,333
    Goodwill 8,341,910 6,193,163
    Intangible assets, net 1,452,723 540,711
    Other assets 465,773 189,205
    Total assets $ 24,900,537 $ 22,003,762
    LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
    Current liabilities:
    Short-term debt $ 1,015,830 $ 300,000
    Accounts payable 269,031 184,963
    Funds payable and amounts due to customers 3,295,115 2,550,731
    Accrued expenses and other current liabilities 1,427,706 1,343,888
    Deferred revenue 108,274 96,464
    Income taxes payable 29,196 40,468
    Total current liabilities 6,145,152 4,516,514
    Deferred and other tax liabilities, net 1,005,732 645,457
    Long-term debt 1,528,158 1,494,227
    Other liabilities 56,169 45,385
    Total liabilities 8,735,211 6,701,583
    Total stockholders’ equity 16,165,326 15,302,179
    Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity $ 24,900,537 $ 22,003,762
    eBay Inc.

    Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statement of Income

    Three Months Ended
    September 30,
    Nine Months Ended
    September 30,
    2011 2010 2011 2010
    (In thousands, except per share amounts)
    Net revenues (2) $ 2,965,761 $ 2,249,488 $ 8,271,644 $ 6,660,924
    Cost of net revenues (1) 919,697 640,268 2,425,752 1,862,194
    Gross profit 2,046,064 1,609,220 5,845,892 4,798,730
    Operating expenses:
    Sales and marketing (1) 623,309 483,653 1,763,226 1,408,050
    Product development (1) 318,902 226,803 890,921 662,259
    General and administrative (1) 336,606 261,662 1,018,234 800,505
    Provision for transaction and loan losses 146,054 97,964 371,641 296,025
    Amortization of acquired intangible assets 84,605 45,957 181,978 148,104
    Restructuring (233 ) 3,005 (482 ) 20,437
    Total operating expenses 1,509,243 1,119,044 4,225,518 3,335,380
    Income from operations (2) 536,821 490,176 1,620,374 1,463,350
    Loss on divested business (256,501 )
    Interest and other income (expense), net 78,704 26,825 110,972 47,692
    Income before income taxes 615,525 517,001 1,474,845 1,511,042
    Provision for income taxes (125,022 ) (85,072 ) (225,070 ) (269,268 )
    Net income $ 490,503 $ 431,929 $ 1,249,775 $ 1,241,774
    Net income per share:
    Basic $ 0.38 $ 0.33 $ 0.97 $ 0.95
    Diluted $ 0.37 $ 0.33 $ 0.95 $ 0.94
    Weighted average shares:
    Basic 1,289,631 1,308,888 1,290,921 1,303,217
    Diluted 1,309,334 1,328,415 1,311,173 1,324,509
    (1) Includes stock-based compensation as follows:
    Cost of net revenues $ 14,210 $ 11,833 $ 42,637 $ 36,116
    Sales and marketing 32,259 26,350 100,370 80,030
    Product development 25,665 24,389 90,778 75,544
    General and administrative 36,088 31,208 112,147 96,142
    $ 108,222 $ 93,780 $ 345,932 $ 287,832

    (2) For the three-month period ended September 30, 2011, foreign currency movements relative to the U.S. dollar, including the impact of any effective hedging activities, positively impacted net revenues by approximately $84.7 million and positively impacted operating income by approximately $31.2 million compared to the same period of the prior year. For the nine-month period ended September 30, 2011, foreign currency movements relative to the U.S. dollar, including the impact of any effective hedging activities, positively impacted net revenues by approximately $213.8 million and positively impacted operating income by approximately $62.2 million compared to the same period of the prior year.

    eBay Inc.

    Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows

    Three Months Ended
    September 30,
    Nine Months Ended
    September 30,
    2011 2010 2011 2010
    (In thousands)
    Cash flows from operating activities:
    Net income $ 490,503 $ 431,929 $ 1,249,775 $ 1,241,774
    Adjustments:
    Provision for transaction and loan losses 146,053 97,964 371,641 296,025
    Depreciation and amortization 266,716 194,338 667,400 570,177
    Stock-based compensation 108,222 93,780 345,932 287,832
    Loss on divested business 256,501
    Gain on acquisition of a business (56,345 ) (73,400 )
    Changes in assets and liabilities, net of acquisition effects (146,081 ) (70,897 ) (526,435 ) (504,053 )
    Net cash provided by operating activities 809,068 747,114 2,291,414 1,891,755
    Cash flows from investing activities:
    Purchases of property and equipment, net (283,500 ) (166,988 ) (671,851 ) (526,445 )
    Changes in principal loans receivable, net (155,447 ) (90,134 ) (254,097 ) (138,244 )
    Purchases of investments (654,254 ) (728,441 ) (1,883,599 ) (2,022,642 )
    Maturities and sales of investments 437,094 430,617 1,297,592 1,183,523
    Acquisitions, net of cash acquired (308,236 ) (3,155,122 ) (7,000 )
    Repayment of Skype note receivable 125,000
    Other 1,083 (151 ) (101,818 ) (4,924 )
    Net cash used in investing activities (963,260 ) (555,097 ) (4,768,895 ) (1,390,732 )
    Cash flows from financing activities:
    Proceeds from issuance of common stock 31,261 19,213 187,720 118,852
    Repurchases of common stock (32,752 ) (297,662 ) (814,132 ) (297,662 )
    Excess tax benefits from stock-based compensation 6,849 2,192 65,457 26,649
    Tax withholdings related to net share settlements of restricted stock awards and units (16,465 ) (33,192 ) (130,259 ) (106,925 )
    Net borrowings under commercial paper program 700,000
    Repayment of acquired debt (13,038 ) (199,271 )
    Funds receivable and customer accounts 67,093 (235,871 ) (696,060 ) (334,911 )
    Funds payable and amounts due to customers (67,093 ) 235,871 696,060 334,911
    Net cash used in financing activities (24,145 ) (309,449 ) (190,485 ) (259,086 )
    Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents (88,539 ) 260,897 89,505 (60,848 )
    Net (decrease) increase in cash and cash equivalents (266,876 ) 143,465 (2,578,461 ) 181,089
    Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period 3,265,826 4,037,442 5,577,411 3,999,818
    Cash and cash equivalents at end of period $ 2,998,950 $ 4,180,907 $ 2,998,950 $ 4,180,907
    eBay Inc.

    Unaudited Summary of Consolidated Net Revenues

    Net Revenues by Type
    Three Months Ended
    September 30, June 30, March 31, December 31, September 30,
    2011 2011 2011 2010 2010
    Net transaction revenues (In thousands, except percentages)
    Marketplaces $ 1,353,660 $ 1,349,640 $ 1,284,755 $ 1,259,179 $ 1,185,562
    Current quarter vs prior quarter % 5 % 2 % 6 % %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 14 % 14 % 10 % 3 % 3 %
    Percent of Marketplaces revenue from international 56 % 56 % 56 % 57 % 54 %
    Payments 1,032,816 991,118 942,709 926,161 797,826
    Current quarter vs prior quarter 4 % 5 % 2 % 16 % 4 %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 29 % 29 % 23 % 22 % 23 %
    Percent of Payments revenue from international 53 % 52 % 50 % 51 % 49 %
    GSI (1) 148,444 16,060 N/A N/A N/A
    Current quarter vs prior quarter N/A N/A
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter N/A N/A
    Percent of GSI revenue from international 3 % 5 %
    Total net transaction revenues 2,534,920 2,356,818 2,227,464 2,185,340 1,983,388
    Current quarter vs prior quarter 8 % 6 % 2 % 10 % 2 %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 28 % 21 % 15 % 5 % 1 %
    Marketing services and other revenues
    Marketplaces 299,246 313,799 268,507 264,996 225,761
    Current quarter vs prior quarter (5 )% 17 % 1 % 17 % 5 %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 33 % 45 % 26 % 9 % 6 %
    Percent of Marketplaces revenue from international 74 % 74 % 74 % 69 % 69 %
    Payments 74,386 81,878 49,638 45,014 40,339
    Current quarter vs prior quarter (9 )% 65 % 10 % 12 % (13 )%
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 84 % 77 % 16 % 17 % 4 %
    Percent of Payments revenue from international 9 % 6 % 9 % 10 % 10 %
    GSI (1) 54,174 7,779 N/A N/A N/A
    Current quarter vs prior quarter N/A N/A
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter N/A N/A
    Percent of GSI revenue from international % %
    Corporate and other 3,035 N/A N/A N/A N/A
    Total marketing services and other revenues 430,841 403,456 318,145 310,010 266,100
    Current quarter vs prior quarter 7 % 27 % 3 % 17 % 2 %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 62 % 54 % 24 % 7 % 1 %
    Total net revenues $ 2,965,761 $ 2,760,274 $ 2,545,609 $ 2,495,350 $ 2,249,488
    Current quarter vs prior quarter 7 % 8 % 2 % 11 % 2 %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 32 % 25 % 16 % 5 % 1 %
    Net Revenues by Geography (2) Three Months Ended
    September 30, June 30, March 31, December 31, September 30,
    2011 2011 2011 2010 2010
    (In thousands, except percentages)
    U.S. net revenues $ 1,427,811 $ 1,249,303 $ 1,141,051 $ 1,119,642 $ 1,058,258
    Current quarter vs prior quarter 14 % 9 % 2 % 6 % 3 %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 35 % 21 % 14 % 7 % 4 %
    Percent of total 48 % 45 % 45 % 45 % 47 %
    International net revenues 1,537,950 1,510,971 1,404,558 1,375,708 1,191,230
    Current quarter vs prior quarter 2 % 8 % 2 % 15 % 1 %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 29 % 28 % 18 % 4 % (3 )%
    Percent of total 52 % 55 % 55 % 55 % 53 %
    Total net revenues $ 2,965,761 $ 2,760,274 $ 2,545,609 $ 2,495,350 $ 2,249,488
    Current quarter vs prior quarter 7 % 8 % 2 % 11 % 2 %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 32 % 25 % 16 % 5 % 1 %
    (1) Net revenue attributable to the GSI segment for the three months ended June 30, 2011, reflects net revenues for the period from June 17, 2011 (the date that the acquisition was completed) to June 30, 2011.
    (2) Revenues are attributed to U.S. and international geographies primarily based upon the country in which the seller, payment recipient, customer, website that displays advertising, or other service provider, as the case may be, is located.
    eBay Inc.

    Unaudited Payments Supplemental Operating Data

    Three Months Ended
    September 30, June 30, March 31, December 31, September 30,
    2011 2011 2011 2010 2010
    (In millions, except percentages)
    Active registered accounts (1) 103.0 100.3 97.7 94.4 90.5
    Current quarter vs prior quarter 3 % 3 % 3 % 4 % 4 %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 14 % 15 % 16 % 17 % 16 %
    Net number of payments (2) 459.2 432.0 424.6 421.1 357.0
    Current quarter vs prior quarter 6 % 2 % 1 % 18 % 7 %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 29 % 29 % 26 % 28 % 31 %
    Net total payment volume (3) $ 29,282 $ 28,742 $ 27,362 $ 26,866 $ 22,365
    Current quarter vs prior quarter 2 % 5 % 2 % 20 % 5 %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 31 % 34 % 28 % 26 % 26 %
    Merchant Services net total payment volume as % of net total payment volume 66 % 66 % 64 % 63 % 63 %
    Transaction rates
    Take rate 3.78 % 3.73 % 3.63 % 3.61 % 3.75 %
    Transaction expense 1.14 % 1.11 % 1.11 % 1.11 % 1.20 %
    Loss rate 0.31 % 0.25 % 0.21 % 0.20 % 0.22 %
    Transaction margin (4) 61.5 % 63.6 % 63.7 % 63.5 % 62.1 %
    Loan portfolio rates
    Risk adjusted margin (5) 18.0 % 16.5 % 14.7 % 14.4 % 11.5 %
    Net charge-off rate (6) 4.3 % 4.4 % 4.9 % 6.1 % 7.3 %
    90-day delinquency rate (7) 2.6 % 2.2 % 2.2 % 2.4 % 3.1 %
    (1) All registered accounts that successfully sent or received at least one payment or payment reversal through the PayPal system or Bill Me Later accounts that are currently able to transact and that received a statement within the last 12 months.
    (2) Number of payments, net of payment reversals, successfully completed through PayPal’s payments network and on Bill Me Later accounts during the quarter, excluding PayPal’s payments gateway business.
    (3) Total dollar volume of payments, net of payment reversals, successfully completed through our Payments networks and Zong, excluding PayPal’s payment gateway business, and on Bill Me Later accounts during the period.
    (4) Transaction Margin calculation has been adjusted to include total revenues (including revenue from credit) less transaction expense (including credit cost of funds) less transaction loss (including credit loan losses), divided by global take rate (based on global total revenues divided by total TPV).
    (5) The risk adjusted margin represents the annualized ratio of Bill Me Later revenue, excluding contra-revenue incentives to customers or merchants, less cost of funds, and less net credit and fraud losses relative to average loans receivable for the quarter.
    (6) Net charge-off rate represents the annualized ratio of Bill Me Later net credit losses relative to average loans receivable for the quarter.
    (7) 90-day delinquency rate is the ratio of Bill Me Later end of period account balances that have missed three or more consecutive payments relative to total ending loan receivables.
    eBay Inc.

    Unaudited eBay Marketplaces Supplemental Operating Data

    Three Months Ended
    September 30, June 30, March 31, December 31, September 30,
    2011 2011 2011 2010 2010
    (In millions, except percentages)
    Active Users (1) 98.7 97.2 95.9 94.5 93.2
    Current quarter vs prior quarter 2 % 1 % 1 % 1 % 1 %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 6 % 6 % 5 % 5 % 4 %
    Gross Merchandise Volume (excluding vehicles) (2) $ 14,666 $ 14,680 $ 14,496 $ 15,039 $ 12,591
    Current quarter vs prior quarter % 1 % (4 )%   19 % %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 16 % 17 % 8 % 6 % 3 %
    Vehicles Gross Merchandise Volume (3) $ 2,149 $ 2,238 $ 2,050 $ 1,920 $ 2,157
    Current quarter vs prior quarter (4 ) % 9 % 7 % (11 ) % (1 ) %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter % 2 % 1 %   (8 ) %   (10 ) %
    Fixed Price Trading (4) as % of total gross merchandise volume 63 % 62 % 61 % 62 % 60 %

    eBay’s classifieds websites (including Rent.com) and Shopping.com are not included in these metrics.

    (1) All users, excluding users of Half.com, StubHub, GittiGidiyor and our Korean subsidiaries (Gmarket and eBay Auction Co.), who bid on, bought, listed or sold an item within the previous 12-month period. Users may register more than once, and as a result, may have more than one account.
    (2) Total value of all successfully closed items between users on eBay Marketplaces trading platforms during the quarter, regardless of whether the buyer and seller actually consummated the transaction, excluding vehicles gross merchandise volume.
    (3) Total value of all successfully closed vehicle transactions between users on eBay Marketplaces trading platforms during the quarter, regardless of whether the buyer and seller actually consummated the transaction.
    (4) Primarily, total gross merchandise volume related to eBay’s “Buy It Now” feature on eBay Marketplaces trading platforms relative to total gross merchandise volume during the quarter.
    eBay Inc.

    Unaudited GSI Supplemental Operating Data

    Three Months Ended
    September 30, June 30, March 31, December 31, September 30,
    2011 2011 (1) 2011 2010 2010
    (In millions, except percentages)
    GeC Merchandise Sales (2) $ 608.1 $ 75.6 N/A N/A N/A
    (1) Reflects the period from June 17, 2011 (the date that the acquisition was completed) to June 30, 2011.
    (2) Represents the retail value of all sales transactions, inclusive of freight charges and net of allowance for returns and discounts, which flow through the GSI ecommerce services platform, whether we record the full amount of such transaction as a product sale or a percentage of such transaction as a service fee.

    eBay Inc.
    Business Outlook
    (In Millions, Except Per Share Amounts)

    The guidance figures provided below and elsewhere in this press release are forward-looking statements, reflect a number of estimates, assumptions and other uncertainties, and are approximate in nature because eBay’s future performance is difficult to predict. Such guidance is based on information available on the date of this press release, and eBay assumes no obligation to update it.

    eBay’s future performance involves risks and uncertainties, and the company’s actual results could differ materially from the information below and elsewhere in this press release. Some of the factors that could affect the company’s operating results are set forth under the caption “Forward-Looking Statements” above in this press release. More information about factors that could affect eBay’s operating results is included under the captions “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in its most recent annual report on Form 10-K and subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, copies of which may be obtained by visiting the company’s investor relations website at http://investor.ebayinc.com or the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.

    Three Months Ended
    December 31, 2011
    (In millions, except per share amounts) GAAP Non-GAAP (a)
    Net Revenue $3,200 – $3,350 $3,200 – $3,350
    Diluted EPS $1.47 – $1.53 $0.55 – $0.58
    Twelve Months Ended
    December 31, 2011
    (In millions, except per share amounts) GAAP Non-GAAP (b)
    Net Revenue $11,500 – $11,600 $11,500 – $11,600
    Diluted EPS $2.42 – $2.48 $1.98 – $2.01
    (a) Estimated non-GAAP amounts above for the three months ending December 31, 2011, reflect adjustments that exclude the estimated amortization of acquired intangible assets of approximately $110-$120 million, estimated stock-based compensation expense and employer payroll taxes on stock-based compensation expense of approximately $120-$140 million, a gain on the sale of our remaining equity interest in Skype of approximately $1.7 billion and the accretion of a note receivable of approximately $5 million as well as the related tax impact.
    (b) Estimated non-GAAP amounts above for the twelve months ending December 31, 2011, reflect adjustments that exclude the estimated amortization of acquired intangible assets of approximately $330-$345 million, estimated stock-based compensation expense and employer payroll taxes on stock-based compensation expense of approximately $480-$505 million, a loss on a divested business of approximately $257 million, acquisition related transaction expense of approximately $57 million, a gain on the sale of our remaining equity interest in Skype of approximately $1.7 billion, gains from the acquisition of businesses of approximately $73 million, amortization of intangibles and stock-based compensation for Skype of approximately $45 million, and the accretion of a note receivable of approximately $9 million as well as the related tax impact.

    eBay Inc.
    Non-GAAP Measures of Financial Performance

    To supplement the company’s condensed consolidated financial statements presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP, eBay uses non-GAAP measures of certain components of financial performance. These non-GAAP measures include non-GAAP net income, non-GAAP earnings per diluted share, non-GAAP operating margin, non-GAAP effective tax rate, and free cash flow.

    These non-GAAP measures are not in accordance with, or an alternative to, measures prepared in accordance with GAAP and may be different from non-GAAP measures used by other companies. In addition, these non-GAAP measures are not based on any comprehensive set of accounting rules or principles. Non-GAAP measures have limitations in that they do not reflect all of the amounts associated with eBay’s results of operations as determined in accordance with GAAP. These measures should only be used to evaluate eBay’s results of operations in conjunction with the corresponding GAAP measures.

    Reconciliation to the nearest GAAP measure of all non-GAAP measures included in this press release can be found in the tables included in this press release.

    These non-GAAP measures are provided to enhance investors’ overall understanding of the company’s current financial performance and the company’s prospects for the future. Specifically, the company believes the non-GAAP measures provide useful information to both management and investors by excluding certain expenses, gains and losses or net purchases of property and equipment, as the case may be, that may not be indicative of its core operating results and business outlook. In addition, because eBay has historically reported certain non-GAAP results to investors, the company believes that the inclusion of non-GAAP measures provides consistency in the company’s financial reporting.

    For its internal budgeting process, and as discussed further below, eBay’s management uses financial measures that do not include stock-based compensation expense, employer payroll taxes on stock-based compensation, amortization or impairment of acquired intangible assets, impairment of goodwill, significant gains or losses from the disposal/acquisition of a business, restructuring-related charges and the income taxes associated with the foregoing. In addition to the corresponding GAAP measures, eBay’s management also uses the foregoing non-GAAP measures in reviewing the financial results of eBay.

    eBay excludes the following items from non-GAAP net income, non-GAAP earnings per diluted share, non-GAAP operating margin and non-GAAP effective tax rate:

    Stock-based compensation expense. This expense consists of expenses for stock options, restricted stock and employee stock purchases. eBay excludes stock-based compensation expenses from its non-GAAP measures primarily because they are non-cash expenses that management does not believe are reflective of ongoing operating results. eBay also excludes its proportionate share of Skype’s stock-based compensation expense.

    Employer payroll taxes on stock-based compensation. This amount is dependent on eBay’s stock price and the timing and size of exercises by employees of their stock options and the vesting of their restricted stock, over which management has limited to no control, and as such management does not believe it correlates to eBay’s operation of the business.

    Amortization or impairment of acquired intangible assets, impairment of goodwill and significant gains or losses and transaction expenses from the acquisition or disposal of a business. eBay incurs amortization or impairment of acquired intangible assets and goodwill in connection with acquisitions and may incur significant gains or losses from the acquisition or disposal of a business and therefore excludes these amounts from its non-GAAP measures. eBay also excludes its proportionate share of Skype’s amortization of acquired intangibles expense. eBay also settled a legal exposure in conjunction with the acquisition of a business and excludes this settlement payment. In addition, eBay’s results are also impacted by hedge transactions related to unique movements of cash from significant business acquisitions or dispositions. eBay excludes the impact of the accretion of a note receivable associated with the disposal of certain businesses. eBay excludes these items because management does not believe they correlate to the ongoing operating results of eBay’s business.

    Restructuring. These charges consist of expenses for employee severance and other exit and disposal costs. eBay excludes restructuring charges primarily because management does not believe they are reflective of ongoing operating results.

    Income taxes associated with certain non-GAAP entries. This amount is used to present stock-based compensation and the other amounts described above on an after-tax basis consistent with the presentation of non-GAAP net income.

    In addition to the non-GAAP measures discussed above, eBay also uses free cash flow. Free cash flow represents operating cash flows less net purchases of property and equipment. eBay considers free cash flow to be a liquidity measure that provides useful information to management and investors about the amount of cash generated by the business after the purchases of property, buildings, and equipment, which can then be used to, among other things, invest in eBay’s business, make strategic acquisitions, and repurchase stock. A limitation of the utility of free cash flow as a measure of financial performance is that it does not represent the total increase or decrease in the company’s cash balance for the period.

    eBay Inc.

    Reconciliation of GAAP Operating Margin to Non-GAAP Operating Margin

    Three Months Ended
    September 30, September 30,
    2011 2010
    (In thousands, except percentages)
    GAAP operating income $ 536,821 $ 490,176
    Stock-based compensation expense 108,222 93,780
    Employer payroll taxes on stock-based compensation 1,739 2,475
    Amortization of acquired intangible assets within cost of net revenues 20,253 9,604
    Amortization of acquired intangible assets within operating expenses 84,605 45,957
    Restructuring (233 ) 3,005
    Non-GAAP operating income $ 751,407 $ 644,997
    Non-GAAP operating margin 25.3 % 28.7 %
    Reconciliation of GAAP Net Income to Non-GAAP Net Income
    Three Months Ended
    September 30, September 30,
    2011 2010
    (In thousands, except per share amounts)
    GAAP net income $ 490,503 $ 431,929
    Stock-based compensation expense 108,222 93,780
    Employer payroll taxes on stock-based compensation 1,739 2,475
    Amortization of acquired intangible assets within cost of net revenues 20,253 9,604
    Amortization of acquired intangible assets within operating expenses 84,605 45,957
    Restructuring (233 ) 3,005
    Amortization of intangibles and stock-based compensation for Skype 24,121 9,469
    Gain from the acquisition of a business (56,345 )
    Accretion of note receivable (3,949 )
    Contingencies associated with the sale of Skype that were settled during the quarter (10,000 )
    Income taxes associated with certain non-GAAP entries (40,678 ) (55,631 )
    Non-GAAP net income $ 628,238 $ 530,588
    Diluted net income per share:
    GAAP $ 0.37 $ 0.33
    Non-GAAP $ 0.48 $ 0.40
    Shares used in GAAP and non-GAAP diluted net income per-share calculation 1,309,334 1,328,415
    Reconciliation of GAAP Effective Tax Rate to Non-GAAP Effective Tax Rate
    Three Months Ended
    September 30, September 30,
    2011 2010
    (In thousands, except percentages)
    GAAP provision for income taxes (a) $ 125,022 $ 85,072
    Income taxes associated with certain non-GAAP entries 40,678 55,631
    Non-GAAP provision for income taxes (b) $ 165,700 $ 140,703
    GAAP income before income taxes (c) $ 615,525 $ 517,001
    Stock-based compensation expense 108,222 93,780
    Employer payroll taxes on stock-based compensation 1,739 2,475
    Amortization of acquired intangible assets within cost of net revenues 20,253 9,604
    Amortization of acquired intangible assets within operating expenses 84,605 45,957
    Restructuring (233 ) 3,005
    Amortization of intangibles and stock-based compensation for Skype 24,121 9,469
    Gain from the acquisition of a business (56,345 )
    Accretion of note receivable (3,949 )
    Contingencies associated with the sale of Skype that were settled during the quarter (10,000 )
    Non-GAAP income before income taxes (d) $ 793,938 $ 671,291
    GAAP effective tax rate (a/c) 20 % 16 %
    Non-GAAP effective tax rate (b/d) 21 % 21 %
    Reconciliation of Operating Cash Flow to Free Cash Flow
    Three Months Ended
    September 30, September 30,
    2011 2010
    (In thousands)
    Net cash provided by operating activities $ 809,068 $ 747,114
    Less: Purchases of property and equipment, net (283,500 ) (166,988 )
    Free cash flow $ 525,568 $ 580,126

     

  • iPhone 5 Concept Features, Stevie Wonder, Robots & the Evolution of Music

    This week, we started a new series of articles where we look at some of the most interesting videos in tech and business that we come across in any given day. You can see yesterdays’ here. While it’s only day two, the response has been good so far, so we will likely keep it up.

    Update: Don’t miss day three’s videos here.

    I’m not going to waste a lot of time talking about. Let’s just get to the videos.

    This CG iPhone 5 concept video , which features an iPhone with a thin design, a laser keyboard and holographic display has been trending pretty hard. Today, it made it on YouTube’s own Trends blog.

    Speaking of the iPhone, Stevie Wonder thanks Steve Jobs at the “WONDER-FULL” event in LA. It’s making its way around the blogosphere (4:39):

    AOL’s Money and Happiness speaks with an expert for tips on racking up free airline miles:

    Panasonic demonstrates EVOLTA robots to compete in Iron Man Triathlon:

    Sphero is a robotic ball that you control with your smartphone. Business Insider shared this video of the ball rolling around its HQ:

    This game, Phone Story, was banned from iOS but has apparently been approved by Android:

    Google is letting Gmail users get their chat log data out of Gmail. They released this video about it:

    Interesting look at the evolution of music, with statistics:

    Here’s a new interview our own Abby Johnson did with Mary Song of Yuupon about the date of the daily deals industry:

    Here’s the future of shopping according to PayPal:

    I think I still prefer the zombie apocalypse version:

    Adobe’s VP talks about extensibility and the future of web conferencing:

    The Windows Phone Blog shared a look at the HTC TItan with video chat:

    Intel demoed its Pair and Share technology, which lets iOS and Android devices share video and pictures to Intel computers wirelessly:

  • Diablo 3 Taps PayPal for Virtual Goods Payments

    Diablo 3 Taps PayPal for Virtual Goods Payments

    PayPal and Blizzard have teamed up around Blizard’s new Diablo 3 and the Battle.net platform.

    “With the launch of Diablo 3’s public beta, gamers around the world will jump into Blizzard’s dungeon crawling masterpiece that, with its auction house system, promises to allow players to buy and sell virtual items from the game using real money,” a spokesperson for PayPal tells WebProNews. “PayPal will be the payments solution for the auction house service in several regions of the world and PayPal will also be added as a payment option on Blizzard’s Battle.net platform.”

    The announcement comes just after PayPal’s recent announcement with Microsoft that will see Xbox 360 users be able to pay with PayPal directly on their Xbox consoles.

    The announcement on Blizzard’s Battle.net blog says:

    We’re pleased to announce that in most regions, PayPal will be our payment-service partner for the Diablo III auction house, allowing players who trade with real-world currency the ability to cash out the spoils of their battle-torn adventures via a PayPal account.

    PayPal will also soon be added in several regions as a payment option on Battle.net, providing another convenient and secure payment method for digital purchases of Blizzard products and services.

    We’ll share region-related specifics, as well as further details on everything mentioned above, in the near future.  Stay tuned!

    “Gamers want to focus on gaming and prefer an in-game payments solution that’s convenient, easy and secure,” says PayPal’s senior director of emerging opportunities, Carey Kolaja. “Last month we told you that our research has shown that over 70% of gamers are PayPal users, and we believe that’s because we understand that central principle.”

  • PayPal Intros P2P NFC Solution

    PayPal Intros P2P NFC Solution

    Laura Chambers, senior director of PayPal Mobile, gave the audience at MobileBeat a demo of a new P2P NFC solution today, which lets people transfer money “in a matter of seconds” by tapping two smartphones. 

    “This is just one of the many ways PayPal is using different types of technologies to create an entirely new way for people to shop and pay – anytime, anywhere and on any device,” a representative for the company tells WebProNews.

    “At this morning’s session, I had the privilege of demoing our new NFC-enabled Android widget that lets people pay and get paid in a matter of seconds by simply tapping together two Samsung Nexus S phones,” Chambers wrote on the PayPal blog.

    “You have to use it to believe it, but with a simple ‘buzz’ you’ll be able to transact with friends, family, colleagues and employees easier than ever before,” she added. “Sometimes the most obvious solutions are the most elegant.”

    Yesterday, we looked at how PayPal might be able to help us survive the impending zombie apocalypse. While this turned out to be a community-made video rather than a PayPal commercial, it still appears to highlight the direction the company is looking to go in:

    Here are a few tweets from the company from the conference:

    #MBconf Laura Chambers @paypal “We grew from $141million in mobile payments in ’09 to + $3billion expected this year. & its only July” 1 hour ago via TweetDeck · powered by @socialditto

    #MBconf Laura Chambers @paypal “Our DNA is payments. We have great technologies and are making great acquisitions like @Where and @Zong 1 hour ago via TweetDeck · powered by @socialditto

    #MBconf Laura Chambers @paypal: “We have had a PayPal wallet for 12 yrs. We help people pay the way they want – not just prvidng a wallet” 1 hour ago via TweetDeck · powered by @socialditto

    #MBconf Laura Chambers @paypal: “Some merchants call NFC Not For Commerce.They’ve tried it before” 1 hour ago via TweetDeck · powered by @socialditto

    PayPal Uses NFC to Make Peer-to-Peer Payments Easier than Ever: http://bit.ly/qo7tdU (tip @techmeme) 1 hour ago via TweetDeck · powered by @socialditto

    “PayPal is again leading the pack by bringing NFC payments to life on the Android platform,” said Chambers.

    Something tells me Google might have something to say about that before it’s all said and done.

  • PayPal Aims to Save You From Being Eaten Alive by the Living Dead

    PayPal Aims to Save You From Being Eaten Alive by the Living Dead

    In light of our other recent zombie coverage and Bruce Campbell on Twitter news, it seems appropriate to bring up a new PayPal commercial community-made video that was unveiled today at a company event, which shows how you may be able to survive a zombie apocalypse if you’re a PayPal user.

    Hat tip to All Things D’s Tricia Duryee for sharing:

    Update: This was originally reported to be a PayPal commercial, but a spokesperson for the company tells WebProNews it’s not actually one of their commercials, but was created by the PayPal community. Don’t expect to see it on TV (unfortunately).

    It’s also worth noting how horror scenarios are being used in advertising these days. A couple weeks ago, we first saw a Woolite ad directed by Rob Zombie.

    I still love this classic Freddy Krueger Fonzies commercial though:

    Some stats subtly dropped at the end of the PayPal video:

    • 100 million active users
    • More than $3,500 per second
    • $7.5 billion yearly via mobile by the end of 2013

    By 2015, we’re all going to live our lives digitally, according to PayPal President Scott Thompson. That means without wallets:

    PayPal also updated its iPhone app this week. With this, all app features are displayed on one page, transaction history details are “just a tap away,” and filtering of transaction history has been improved.

  • PayPal Sues Google Following Google Wallet Launch

    PayPal Sues Google Following Google Wallet Launch

    Google unveiled Google Wallet yesterday, and it’s already gotten the company a lawsuit. It comes from PayPal, and names two Google executives – Osama Bedier and Stephanie Tilenius, both of which used to work at eBay, and worked on extensively on PayPal.

    The suit has actually been in the works for some time, and alleges that Bedier stole confidential information from PayPal and that Tilenius violated contractual obligations. Bloomberg reports:

    PayPal also alleges that Bedier, who left the company in January, discussed a job with Google while simultaneously leading negotiations to make PayPal a payment option on Google’s Android Market. He didn’t disclose the job-related talks, a breach of his fiduciary duty, the company said.

    Tilenius, who left EBay in 2009, was under contract not to recruit employees, PayPal said. She messaged Bedier on Facebook Inc.’s social-networking Web site, telling him she had a “HUGE” opportunity for him, and sent him e-mails and text messages offering advice while he interviewed for a position, according to the complaint.

    The suit itself says Bedier “is now leading Google’s efforts to bring point of sale technologies and services to retailers on its behalf,” and that “Bedier and Google have misappropriated PayPal trade secrets by disclosing them within Google and to major retailers.”

    Google Wallet lets users store credit cards, coupons, loyalty, and gift cards on a smartphone, and uses near field communication technology, enabling tap to pay functionality. Google has partnership with Citi and MasterCard in place.

    It has been well established that competition in the mobile payments space is going to continue to get fiercer, and with Google officially in the game, things are already getting much more interesting. Wait until Apple and Facebook make their marks in physical world payments. And let’s not forget Square, which just launched Card Case, which allow consumers to use tabs for payments.

    PayPal, a leader in the payments space, needs to break out every line of defense it can as the industry in which it’s been pretty comfortable in for quite some time is becoming greatly disrupted at a rapid pace. Tricia Duryee at All Things Digital brings up an interesting point, saying that PayPal is on track to become bigger than its parent company eBay.

    Google has yet to comment on the suit.

  • PayPal Now an Option for Apps Using Facebook Credits

    PayPal Now an Option for Apps Using Facebook Credits

    Facebook and PayPal announced today that Facebook app developers can now select PayPal as a payout option when they integrate Facebook Credits in their apps. This is huge news for e-commerce on Facebook, and should be ultimately for the success of Facebook Credits in general.

    “Adding PayPal offers more flexibility and choice for payouts and makes it even easier to monetize your app with Facebook Credits,” said Facebook’s Loren Cheng on the FB Developer blog. “When signing up for Facebook Credits for the first time, you can now add an existing PayPal account in the onboarding flow. You can also sign up for a new PayPal account by securely repurposing all the information you entered for Credits Onboarding to create a PayPal account.”

    Facebook Apps get PayPal Payments

    “This should be good news for developers in 22 countries, including Turkey, India and Japan, who previously had to supply additional credentials to authorize payouts to their bank account, or who were not able to use Facebook Credits at all,” adds Chewng. “By adding PayPal as a payout option, we have doubled the number of countries where developers can get started with Facebook Credits immediately.”

    PayPal and Facebook team on Facebook Credits: http://bit.ly/iQ8ww9 38 minutes ago via TweetDeck · powered by @socialditto

    Facebook has created an economy exponentially bigger than the company itself: http://ow.ly/4VUpJ 9 days ago via HootSuite · powered by @socialditto

    “As the world becomes increasingly connected, consumers expect to be able to pay for anything, anytime, any way,” said PayPal Senior Director of Digital Goods Carey Kolaja on the company’s blog. “Turning those expectations into reality is no small undertaking and PayPal is uniquely positioned to deliver on them. Whether you’re playing a game on your Xbox console, buying your morning latte at Starbucks or building the next break out Facebook app, you can pay and get paid with PayPal.”

    PayPal has certainly been busy lately. The Xbox integration was announced a couple weeks ago. Last week, the company launched an update to its Android App to allow check photo snapping.

    Over 250 developers are currently using Facebook Credits with over 500 applications.

  • PayPal Android App Gets Check Photo Snapping Feature

    PayPal Android App Gets Check Photo Snapping Feature

    PayPal updated its Android app this morning to version 2.8. The new version has some new features including the ability to add money from checks by snapping a photo of the check (U.S. only) and storing of the app on the Android device’s removable SD card.

    The add money from a check feature was added to the iPhone last fall. It’s unclear what took so long to bring the functionality to Android (possibly the intricacies of the ecosystem and large amount of different devices – see Netflix issues), but as Android has such a significant share of the smartphone market, this is a huge win for PayPal users.

    PayPal’s Shimone Samuel says it’s only because the iPhone has been around longer. “On average, about a million dollars per month have been uploaded since we launched mobile check capture on the iPhone,” he says. “That’s a lot of people skipping the ATM, depositing a check with their phone and not paying any fees for the privilege.”

    PayPal Android Check Photo Snapping Feature

    “From a personal perspective I love the check transfer feature, I use an online-only bank and until this feature was added my only option was to mail checks for deposit,” Samuel adds. “Now I snap a picture and add them directly to PayPal. I can leave the balance in my PayPal account or withdraw it to my bank.”

    As the competition heats up in the mobile payments space, the addition of the check depositing feature seems like a no-brainer, especially as the feature is becoming much more common among bank apps.

    PayPal is already looking to kill the wallet. Eliminating trips to the bank is always helpful for consumers as well.

  • PayPal Service Coming To Xbox Live

    PayPal Service Coming To Xbox Live

    For those of you who would like an additional method of purchasing on your Xbox Live account, Microsoft has apparently heard your calling, and will address your needs when the next XBL update occurs. Currently, the next update is scheduled for the 19th of May.

    Currently, XBL subscribers use personal credit cards to buy points, which, in turn allows them to purchase items from the Xbox marketplace. Points can also be acquired through gift cards, but these are the primary methods for acquiring goods on XBL. That, however, is about to change once the latest dashboard update is in place. Thanks to a mailing received by Joystiq.com, courtesy of a member of the Microsoft team, it has been revealed that PayPal will be soon be available as a method of payment for XBL members.

    A screenshot of the mailing in question reveals the details:

    XBox Mail

    A post from GamePro.com reveals PayPal is already accepted by Microsoft billing, however, the once the dashboard update is complete, it should move this capability directly to the console.

    While the PayPal inclusion is the “only user facing feature” of the May 19th update — which will actually take place with six separate updates, going from May 19th to May 30th — the mailing also details upcoming support for the Xbox Game Disc Format (XGD3). According to text, XGD3 “allows for additional storage space on a game disc, and provides additional layers of copy protection.”

    Considering how the technological world works, it wouldn’t be a bit surprising if these “additional layers of copy protection” were already circumvented.

    Hackers-versus-copyright battles aside, the upcoming addition of PayPal to the XBL experience provides at least one option for subscribers: the ability to protecting personal credit card numbers just in case XBL is ever hacked. Granted, the PayPal information would be available, but one little change of the PayPal password eliminates this information from being useful.

  • eBay Acquires WHERE, MissionFish

    eBay Acquires WHERE, MissionFish

    Two bits of acquisition news coming out of eBay today. First, the company has completed its previously announced acquisition of location media company WHERE. Terms of the deal were still not revealed.

    “Local commerce companies like WHERE are blurring the lines between in-store and online shopping,” said PayPal’s Amanda Pires. “By giving people hyper-local, relevant retailer information and deals on their mobile phones, we see a huge opportunity for local merchants to reach more buyers, and for consumers to get more choice and value when they shop.”

    “As a first step, we plan to integrate PayPal into the WHERE mobile app to make it even easier for PayPal customers to take advantage of the local deals,” she added. “As John Donahoe said at analyst day, eBay Inc. is at the forefront of a new retail landscape, which is more convenient, more accessible, more local and – and more relevant to more consumers than ever before.”

    The company has also acquired MissionFish, the technology and team that powers the eBay Giving Works program. This is a program that’s been around since 2003. It helped the eBay community raise $54.8 million for US and UK nonprofits last year. A donation is made every 24 seconds through the program, raising $91 every minute, according to the company.

    eBay Giving Works

    eBay’s Richard Brewer-Hay writes, “It seems a natural progression for the eBay Giving Works team and one that can only strengthen the future for all that they’re aimed at accomplishing.”

    “Personally, I’m excited to welcome additional experienced social entrepreneurs directly into the eBay family making it possible for us to serve the nonprofit sector even better than before,” he adds. “Great stuff!”

    Sean Milliken, Founder of MissionFish, wrote a message on the MissionFish site, saying:

    This move is a strong endorsement by eBay of the program, and of the idea that a global company can deliver a dramatic social impact through their products and properties. In addition to bringing our seasoned social entrepreneurs in-house, eBay is investing their money, their people and their brainpower into our mission. I am energized by their commitment, and have set my sights even higher on what we can accomplish together.

    Going forward, count on us to keep doing what we’ve always done: power eBay Giving Works, and launch new ideas that drive resources to organizations everywhere. Initially we’ll work with Points of Light to process and deliver U.S. donations (just like we do today). Eventually, a new nonprofit, staffed by members of the MissionFish team, will be responsible for donation handling.

    We started this venture in 1999, and have reinvented ourselves repeatedly in the eleven years since. Through it all we’ve been carried forward by a true focus on our vision, and by the friends, nonprofits and donors whose trust is our secret ingredient. We also owe a debt of gratitude to the Points of Light Institute, who gave us a home and were early believers in our mission.

    Points of Light is the institute that has been running MissionFish until now.

  • PayPal Buys Fig Card, Aims to Kill the Wallet

    PayPal has acquired Fig Card in the latest move in the increasingly interesting mobile payments space. This comes just a week after the company acquired WHERE, for location-based deals.

    eBay and PayPal will not get left behind as competition grows and industries merge.

    Here’s Fig Card’s own description of itself:

    A while back, we wondered why we weren’t using our fancy iPhones to pay for things. Why do we have to take our iPhone and our wallet to the gym? Why do we have to carry supermarket cards, drug store cards and lunch loyalty cards around? Obviously the phone can do all of that. It’s not that there haven’t been other attempts at solving this problem. But clearly they haven’t worked, and there’s usually more than one reason. Our patent pending solution requires no new hardware on the phones (iPhone, Android, many Blackberry models) and free hardware for the merchants. Transactions complete faster than credit card and often faster than cash.

    Peter Chu, Senior Director of PayPal Mobile said on the PayPal Blog:

    Fig Card developed an extremely easy way for merchants to accept mobile payments in stores by using a simple and very low cost USB device that plugs into the cash register or point-of-sale terminal. All the consumer needs is the Fig app on his or her smart phone. We loved their approach to point-of-sale, particularly because it was driven by the same vision that we have at PayPal – in the future, transactions can be as smart as a computer and not as dumb as paper. We won’t need our physical wallets. We’ll be able to pay any way we want, from any device, anywhere in the world with both flexibility and privacy.

    Prior to founding Fig, Max and Hasty led a series of successful companies. Max was co-founder and CTO of Firefly, where he helped define many of the governing principles of privacy on the Web that are still used today. Firefly was sold to Microsoft, and he went on to architect Microsoft Passport, one of the first single sign-on systems.

    Financial terms of the acquisition are undisclosed.

    The whole mobile industry is getting very competitive, with lots of overlap between services and offerings from companies that one time may not have been seen as likely competitors. I believe we will continue to see the lines get blurrier.

    Google and Apple, for example, are both expected to get heavily involved in mobile payments (and wallet extinction) through NFC tech and their market leading smartphone/tablet operating systems. Payment for physical goods via Facebook Credits becoming a mainstream method of payment acceptance is not so far fetched either.

    Deals companies like Groupon and check-in app companies like Foursquare also continue to see more overlap, as these industries look to be on the path to consolidation – and companies like eBay/PayPal, Google, Facebook, etc. are all in the mix here as well.

    Combine all of this with emerging technologies like augmented reality, and the evolution of mobile commerce is simply a fascinating storyline to follow. It will also be interesting to see how companies like Square hold up in the long term, with the rest fo these emerging technologies. Where do you think this will all be ten years from now?

  • eBay Posts Strong First Quarter Earnings

    eBay Posts Strong First Quarter Earnings

    Good news for e-commerce giant eBay, as today they report solid first quarter results.

    For the first quarter ending March 31st, eBay reports $2.5 billion in net revenue, which is a 16% increase from the same period last year.

    The company recorded first quarter net income on a GAAP basis of $475.9 million, or $0.36 per diluted share, and non-GAAP net income of $619.0 million, or $0.47 per diluted share, representing a 12% increase for each compared to the same period of 2010. The first quarter increase in non-GAAP earnings per diluted share was due primarily to solid top line growth and a lower effective tax rate.

    It looks like the growth of eBay’s PayPal service really pushed revenues in the right direction.  PayPal grew in active registered accounts 16% year-over-year.  At the end of the quarter that figure totalled 97.7 million accounts.  This marks the 6th consecutive quarter that PayPal has added around 1 million new accounts per month.

    “In the first quarter, PayPal continued to drive strong growth globally, eBay sharply accelerated growth in the U.S. and we announced several acquisitions that we believe will enhance our leadership and innovation in commerce and payments.  The year is off to a strong start,” said eBay Inc. President and CEO John Donahoe.

    Last December eBay acquired local commerce company Milo, and this year they have acquired GSI Commerce, location media company WHERE and they bought majority stake in Turkish online marketplace GittiGidiyor.

    eBay Marketplace grew modestly, but not at the clip that PayPal grew – gross merchandise volume grew 8% year-over-year (excluding vehicles).

    For the future, eBay says they expect net revenues of $2.55 billion to $2.65 billion in the second quarter.  For the full year 2011, eBay expects net revenues between $10.6 billion and $10.9 billion.  They also expect GAAP earnings per diluted share in the range of $1.53 to $1.58 and non-GAAP earnings per diluted share in the range of $1.93 to $1.97.

  • Third PayPal X Developer Challenge Begins

    Third PayPal X Developer Challenge Begins

    Developers with any amount of ability when it comes to creating Android apps may want to start thinking about how to bring PayPal into the equation.  Today, the third PayPal X Developer Challenge kicked off, and PayPal’s established some significant cash prizes for the top three participants.

    To cut to the chase: the first place prize is $25,000, second place is $15,000, and third place is $10,000.  Also, this is a high-profile contest, so all three winners stand to receive some attention and publicity in addition to the marketing and PR support PayPal’s promised.

    Now for some more information about the competition itself.  Naveed Anwar, the senior director of PayPal’s Developer Network, wrote on the PayPal Blog, "We’re looking for developers across the globe to build the most innovative Android mobile apps that leverage PayPal’s technologies (Mobile Payments Library, Mobile Express Checkout) for mobile payments."

    Otherwise, restrictions are almost nonexistent; would-be participants just need to keep their apps legal, clean, and user agreement-abiding.  Plus mind the cut-off dates.

    The first deadline to be aware of will hit on May 14th, when all submissions must be in.  Next, June 3rd is the deadline for making changes, and June 7th is when applications will go live.  Finally, winners will be announced on June 29th.

    Depending on what comes out of this contest, it could help make both PayPal and Android more popular.  Retailers and regular eBay users could benefit, too, if people start using their smartphones to shop more.

    We’ll be sure to keep an eye on the competition and report any interesting achievements.

  • PayPal Opens New Customer Service/Operations Center

    Thanks to PayPal, the unemployment rate in Chandler, Arizona should dive rather soon.  PayPal announced today that it’s opening a new customer service and operations center in the city, and the center is designed to accommodate as many as 2,000 employees.

    This move earned PayPal a warm reception from Chandler’s mayor, Jay Tibshraeny.  He stated, "PayPal is a very welcome addition to Chandler and the region on many levels.  From job creation and the diversification of the city’s business base, to PayPal’s excellent reputation as a quality employer, we are excited to have them join Chandler in the Price Corridor."

    Arizona Governor Jan Brewer also applauded the development.  She said, "This new facility will bring good quality jobs to the East Valley.  PayPal is the kind of fast-growing, tech-savvy company that is attracted to Arizona for its business-friendly and high-tech environment.  I commend PayPal for investing in our shared future."

    And of course, merchants and ordinary PayPal users should benefit from the expansion as PayPal intends to offer improved support to customers all over the world.

    Anyone who lives near Chandler and is interested in a job can check out openings here.

    Other U.S. PayPal centers are located in Maryland, Nebraska, and Texas.  Overseas centers have been set up in India, Ireland, Israel, Malaysia, and Singapore.

  • eBay Expects $13 Billion in Revenues in 2013

    eBay said it expects double-digit annual revenue and earnings growth over the next three years. The company outlined its growth plans in a meeting yesterday. eBay expects revenues to reach at least $13 billion in 2013 (compared to $9 billion in 2010). 

    "New rules of retail are being written today," said President and CEO John Donahoe. "Online and offline commerce are changing and converging, and technology is dramatically influencing how consumers connect, shop and pay. We are at the forefront of shopping innovation. We believe we have core businesses, platforms and assets that strongly position us to compete, win and lead on a global scale. We are confident that we will lead the next generation of commerce."

    eBay expects revenue growth to be driven by global momentum of PayPal, profitable growth at eBay, and the acceleration of innovation in mobile, local, social, and digital commerce trends.

    The company also intends to create an open commerce platform based on its global commerce and payments capabilities, and "accelerate innovation" for merchants.

    This week, PayPal released its Digital Goods payment service. In January, eBay delivered an impressive Q4 earnings report.

  • PayPal Digital Goods Payment Product Released

    Today at eBay’s 2001 Analyst Day, PayPal announced the general availability of its digital goods solution, aptly called PayPal for Digital Goods. 

    The product is designed for online publishers. "The solution makes paying for content online convenient and secure for consumers, a long-time challenge for all sorts of digital content providers," a PayPal representative tells WebProNews.

    The product was actually announced last year, but it is now out of beta, and is widely available to developers, publishers, or anyone else selling digital content on a global scale. 

    PayPal for Digital Goods Out of Beta

    "When consumers pay for online content, PayPal for digital goods allows them to pay in as little as two clicks without ever leaving a publisher’s game, news, music, video or media site," explains PayPal’s Carey Kolaja. "It’s the online equivalent to dropping a quarter in the slot to buy a gumball."

    "Based on PayPal’s existing security, the service offers a faster, safer and more cost-effective way to send and receive micropayments," she adds.

    Fees for micropayments are 5% plus 5 cents for purchases under $12.

    PayPal says it closed out last year with $3.4 billion of total payment volume for digital goods.

  • PayPal VP Of Product Development Moves To Google

    Fans of Google Checkout and/or the idea of paying for things with your Android smartphone have reason to cheer this morning: Osama Bedier, the (former) vice president of product development at PayPal, has taken a job with a certain search giant.

    Details are light about what Bedier might do at Google.  Nonexistent, really, so we’ll be sure to provide an update if and when that info becomes available.  UPDATE: Bedier’s LinkedIn profile now indicates he’s a VP at Google.

    Osama BedierIn the meantime, though, a look at Bedier’s background makes it easy to see he’s quite a catch.  Bedier worked at PayPal for over eight years, and his position put him in charge of the mobile payments platform.

    He must have accomplished some impressive things, too, as Scott Guilford, PayPal’s CTO, wrote in a blog post announcing his departure, "Osama helped open our platform to the world two years ago and that’s driving great innovation and momentum.  I want to personally thank Osama for his friendship and leadership."

    Matthew Mengerink will now replace Bedier at PayPal.  And as for what will happen at Google, it’d be prudent to expect the company to explore some interesting new directions with Google Checkout and NFC technology (which the Nexus S already supports).

    Google’s made clear it’s interested in in-app payment solutions, as well.

  • PayPal Provides Payment Solution for New WebMatrix

    Today, Microsoft launched WebMatrix, a new tool described as a way  to make web development easier for people of all skill sets – from the novice to the expert. Now, PayPal has announced the PayPalX helper built specifically for Microsoft’s offering. 

    PayPalX Helper lets developers integrate payments within their web sites or e-commerce applications built using WebMatrix.

    "Using this helper one can, with minimal programming effort, enable customers on their web site to pay for their purchases using their PayPal accounts," the company explains. "The helper provides easier interfaces to the PayPal Button Manager and the Adaptive Payments APIs. The Button Manager API interface provides the ability to create (and manage) PayPal buttons (like Add to Cart, Buy Now, etc.) that allows customers to purchase single or multiple items."

    "The Adaptive Payments API interface provides the ability to process payments from simple to complex scenarios like refunds, parallel and chained payments, preapprovals, etc. In addition to the support for PayPal APIs, the helper also provides a payment page for the bakery application template provided in the tool to demonstrate how to use the PayPalX  helper to enable simple and chained payments," PayPal adds.

    WebMatrix from Microsoft for simplifying web development

    WebMatrix provides users with a Web server, a database, and programming frameworks, letting users code, test, and deploy both deploy both ASP.NET and PHP applications side by side. It also includes built-in SEO features. It also includes built-in SEO features. 

    WebMatrix lets users create sites using code provided through templates or using existing free open source Web apps like WordPress, Joomla, DotNetNuke or Umbraco. Microsoft says nearly 40 open source application partners are supporting WebMatrix.