Mobile Payments Gives PayPal A Q4 Revenue Boost

PayPal Inc.on Jan. 18 reported a jump in fourth-quarter revenue, driven in part by mobile payments.

PayPal's parent, eBay Inc., said Jan. 18 that the payments subsidiary's revenue rose 28%, to $1.24 billion in the fourth quarter from the same period a year earlier. Its net total payment volume rose 24%, to $33.4 billion, and its mobile-payment volume reached $4 billion, which eBay says is more than five times the volume it had last year.

PayPal is pushing hard to become a contender at the point of sale. It is set to expand a trial of a point of sale payment system to 51 Home Depot stores this week, up from just five when the test began (see story). PayPal is also planning to offer a card this week that consumers can use to access their PayPal balances in retail stores, but the card is not necessary for point of sale transactions. Instead, consumers can use their phone number and PIN to authorize payments in person.

"We are well-positioned to compete in the emerging new retail environment," said John Donahoe, eBay's chief executive, in a Jan. 18 press release. "We are a different eBay today, no longer just an ecommerce leader but a stronger, more diverse global commerce company shaping the future of shopping and payments."

Donahoe also is running PayPal while eBay looks for a permanent president for the payments unit. Its last president, Scott Thompson, left the company this month to become CEO of Yahoo Inc. (see story).

EBay's revenue rose 35%, to $3.4 billion in the fourth quarter from the same period a year earlier. Its net income rose 254%, to $2 billion.

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