PayPal COO Responds to Company's Break-Up with eBay
PayPal posted better-than-expected results, but news that eBay is abandoning the company in favor of a smaller European competitor caused the stock to fall. Bill Ready, COO of PayPal, joined us to explain why he thinks investors are misunderstanding the news.
Ready says PayPal will retain a majority of eBay’s volume with the deal it did for PayPal branded checkout. He also said the primary part of PayPal's business was actually expanded with eBay. Ready added that investors may be getting it wrong because this kind of news takes time to digest.
EBay explained that its decision to integrate Adyen's payment processor would result in lower costs and more control for its merchants. Ready responded by highlighting all the long-term partnerships the company has with Airbnb, Facebook, Google, Apple, and Uber.
Venmo has been a solid source of growth for PayPal, processing $10.4 billion in payments in just the fourth quarter. Ready said that now more than 2 million retailers are able to accept payments from Venmo. Many people have said Apple Pay Cash is going to be a Venmo-killer. Ready said the rush of competitors into the digital payments space hasn't stopped Venmo's business from accelerating.
As the holiday weekend arrives, travelers are bracing themselves for higher gas prices amid the inflation surge, but Robert Sinclair, AAA spokesperson, joined Cheddar News to discuss how the higher costs likely won't hold people back this Memorial Day Weekend. “We're near pre-pandemic levels. Nearly 40 million people are traveling. And of that total, about 35 million will be driving to their destinations," he said.
Umbilical cord blood banking platform Anja Health raised $4.5 million dollars in a seed round led by Seven Seven Six, a venture capital firm founded by Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian. Anja Health offers a personalized, doctor-backed cord blood bank, which lets new parents freeze stem cells from their child's umbilical cord so they can be used to treat diseases in the future. It's a process Anja has called 'Hollywood's best-kept secret,' as celebrities like Kylie Jenner, Serena Williams, and more have all banked their umbilical cord blood. Kathryn Cross, the founder of Anja Health, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Catching you up on what you missed in today's news. Elon Musk has increased his commitment to purchase Twitter to $33.5 billion, Apple is raising its hourly wages for retail stores to compete for talent, and Roblox has announced that it will be partnering with the medically prescribed video game ‘Endeavor’ to help treat patients with ADHD.
