PayPal is expanding services for the sharing economy generation. It just announced it’s launching Money Pools, a platform where users can collect money from friends and family. Pablo Rodriguez, Senior Director of Global Consumer Initiatives at PayPal, says that a third of consumers will be pooling their money this holiday season. “Our mission for consumers is to help everyone move and manage their money,” he said, noting that the company is excited to launch the service for the holiday. He notes the growing trend of spending money on experiences, rather than gift items. “We know it can be a real hassle to pull that cash from our friends and our family,” Rodriguez says. “Money Pools allows you to do that.” Similar to crowdfunding sites, PayPal’s Money Pools allows people to share a link to their cause, collect money, and track and use funds. The company says the service is free to PayPal users, but will collect a “small fee” from contributors who make transactions with a debit or credit card.
