Back in 1998, a small group of technology and business visionaries launched a new company to unleash the power of computing and the potential of the Internet to simplify the way money flows between people and across the global economy.
That company came to be known as PayPal.
In 2002, we joined eBay to become an integral part of the world’s largest online marketplace. Since then, we’ve enabled millions of people to launch new businesses, handled almost 18 billion transactions, and processed more than $1 trillion in payments. We’ve grown to serve 165 million consumers in some 200 countries. And we’re the world’s leading mobile payment platform.
I’m honored and thrilled that PayPal is returning to its roots as an independent company. In the second half of 2015 we’ll once again be publicly traded on NASDAQ with our original stock ticker symbol PYPL. This is a meaningful symbol for the company because it represents our unbroken commitment to the spirit of the original vision that sparked the launch of PayPal 17 years ago.
It’s been a remarkable journey since then. And today, the potential to make money work better for people has never been greater.
We’re in possibly the greatest period of change and transformation in the history of money and financial services. Everything about how commerce works is in flux – how people shop; how merchants sell to consumers; how people interact with financial institutions; the very nature of money itself. Every one of these things is being reimagined on a global scale. No company is in a better position to deliver the benefits of this transformation to consumers and merchants – and the resulting value to shareholders – than a newly independent, publicly traded PayPal.
We open this new chapter in PayPal’s journey with an unparalleled set of assets and advantages. We are an industry leader in everything from consumer trust and merchant partnerships to risk management, compliance, and customer service, all through a unique two-sided global network that brings consumers and retailers together in a way that no one else can. We have achieved all of this at a worldwide scale that would be difficult for anyone else to replicate.
Moving forward we intend to create the operating system for a world in which all commerce is digital commerce. We’ll become an everyday part of people’s lives by continually making it faster, simpler, and safer to manage and move money. We’ll deliver capabilities, services, and platforms that are technology and payment agnostic, so that our solutions work the way our customers want and need them to. We’ll provide tools that enable developers and innovators to build next generation apps and invent new business models. We’ll be the comprehensive solution partner that merchants around the world rely on to thrive as they reach for their own vision of success.
As we take this step to become an independent company publicly traded under the symbol PYPL once again, we are proud of our history of innovation and success and we are optimistic about the limitless possibilities that lie ahead. There is much more news to come and we’ll continue to update you on important developments as we proceed toward separation. We look forward to continuing our journey as we strive to fulfill our founders’ vision to give people around the world a simpler, better way to control their money than they ever had before.
This post was originally published on PayPal Stories.