Customers with cryptocurrency holdings in their PayPal wallets will be able to make purchases using those holdings and face no additional transaction fees. The process works by converting crypto into fiat currency at checkout, with PayPal selling the crypto assets on behalf of the customer.

PayPal users will only be able to select one type of cryptocurrency per purchase – whether that’s Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, or Bitcoin Cash – and will receive a record of both the crypto sale and the purchased item(s).

“As the use of digital payments and digital currencies accelerates, the introduction of Checkout with Crypto continues our focus on driving mainstream adoption of cryptocurrencies, while continuing to offer PayPal customers choice and flexibility in the ways they can pay using the PayPal wallet,” said Dan Schulman, President and CEO of PayPal. “Enabling cryptocurrencies to make purchases at businesses around the world is the next chapter in driving the ubiquity and mass acceptance of digital currencies.”

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PayPal’s decision to leave the Libra Association, the group of companies helping to develop the cryptocurrency, comes at a time when there are a growing number of reports about the uncertainty of some of those within the group.

The company said it has left the group to “continue to focus on advancing our existing mission and business priorities”. Despite leaving, PayPal added that it will continue to support the idea of Libra and continue working with Facebook in the other areas it already partners the social network.

The Libra Association was rather scathing in its response to PayPal’s decision, stating that it understands that “the journey will be long and challenging. The type of change that will reconfigure the financial system to be tilted towards people, not the institutions serving them, will be hard. Commitment to that mission is more important to us than anything else. We’re better off knowing about this lack of commitment now, rather than later”.

Facebook has faced scrutiny from regulators in the US and across Europe over the planned cryptocurrency and how it could lead to people’s data being left vulnerable, the potential for it to destabilise fiat currency, and possible anti-competitive behaviour.

The pressure faced is reportedly forcing other members, such as Visa and Mastercard, to consider following in PayPal’s footsteps. For now, only one member has dropped out, though it looks like more will follow sooner rather than later.

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Southeast Asia’s biggest ride-hailing firm, which acquired Uber’s Southeast Asia business last year, is looking to double down on its non-transportation business, according to TechCrunch. As such, it is in early talks with Ant Financial and PayPal over potential strategic investments – though Ant Financial denies any dialogue between the two companies.

The company is facing an increasing challenge in Southeast Asia from Go-Jek, which has been slowly growing its valuation with backing from the likes of Google, Tencent, and JD.com, while expanding to other markets around Southeast Asia.

Grab recently received a hefty $1.46bn cash injection from SoftBank’s Vision Fund as part of its Series H funding round of more than $4.5bn. This round has also included investment from Toyota Motor Corporation, Oppenheimer Funds, Hyundai Motor Group, Booking Holdings, Microsoft Corporation, Ping An Capital, and Yamaha Motor.

While Grab looks to the idea of spinning out its financial services business, Bloomberg reports that the company also plans to double its staff in Singapore to 3,000 by the time it moves into its new headquarters in the market next year.

It will also add 1,000 technology jobs across its research and development sites in Bangalore, Beijing, Ho Chi Minh City, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Seattle and Singapore.

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The agreement penned with PayPal will see the payments company purchase common stock, while Dragoneer purchases Series A perpetual convertible preferred stock. The remaining $1bn in stock will be made available publicly with a 30-day option for the underwriters to purchase up to $150m in additional shares. The closure of PayPal and Dragoneer’s investments are dependent on the closure of the public offering.

MercadoLibre plans to use the investment to expand its eCommerce platform, strengthen its logistics infrastructure, and invest in solutions.

“Over the past 20 years, we have heavily invested in developing the preeminent eCommerce and fintech ecosystem in Latin America,” said Marcos Galperin, CEO of MercadoLibre. “We are excited to welcome these investments which will allow us to significantly accelerate our growth. We look forward to accelerating our leadership in ecommerce and payments and foster financial inclusion in Latin America as a result of our alliance with a global leader in the industry such as PayPal.”

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The deal means US Amex card members will be able to use their Membership Rewards points for purchases at PayPal merchants online, send money via Venmo or PayPal via the Amex mobile app, easily add American Express cards to their PayPal wall from the Amex app or website, use the PayPal Instant Transfer feature to pay American Express bills with PayPal or Venmo, and more clearly identify their specific American Express cards in the PayPal wallet.

“This partnership is the product of our companies’ strong commitment to create innovative payment experiences that utilise both organisations’ core assets, including the ability for customers to pay with American Express Membership Rewards points and the integration of peer-to-peer payments into the Amex app,” said Dan Schulman, President and CEO, PayPal.

As a result of the partnership, PayPal will integrate into the American Express Token Service, alongside continuing the pair’s global card acceptance relationship. The new features will be implemented over the course of 2019.

“Together we will streamline and expand the online and mobile payments experience for our card members, helping us become a more essential part of their digital lives,” said Stephen J. Squeri, chairman and CEO at American Express. “This strategic partnership with PayPal will open up the use of Membership Rewards points at more small and medium-sized businesses than ever and make peer-to-peer payments more seamless for card members.”

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The introduction of the money services at Walmart stores marks the first time that PayPal mobile app users will be able to take cash out of their PayPal account in a brick-and-mortar environment. In addition, PayPal Cash Mastercard customers will now have access to their cash balance via Walmart Service Desks, ATMs, and cash registers. Each time one of the above services is used it will cost a fee of $3.

“We consider this a key collaboration for both PayPal and Walmart,” said Dan Schulman, president and CEO at PayPal. “We are committed to working together to make it simple and easy for people to use PayPal cash in and cash out money services at every Walmart location in the US We look forward to working hand-in-hand to help people and families with their financial services needs.”

PayPal cash in has already become available at Walmart, while cash out will become available at all US Walmart locations by early November.

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Speaking to German publication Handelsblatt (link in German), PayPal president and CEO Dan Schulman said the company would be looking to spend between $1bn and 3$bn each year on mergers and acquisitions.

“We have a healthy balance sheet and we are ready to put it to work to buy more companies. It is likely we will continue to buy very specific skills,” said Schulman. “I wouldn’t rule out that we take on a bigger deal, if there’s a good fit for us.”

Despite the company’s desire to continue bringing in the other businesses, it’s clear that it is not in any way strategically dependent on these deals.

Over the last few years, PayPal has agreed to collaborate with the like of Google, Microsoft, and Alibaba – alongside financial service providers – and it sees these partnerships as a key to its strategy.

“Much of what we have bought in the past can now be represented through partnerships,” said Schulman. “In the past 18 to 24 months, we have announced 25 major collaborations with tech companies… as well as with various financial service providers. And we are eager to work as a neutral platform with other financial service providers and banks.”

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“Digital commerce has exploded, and fraudsters have taken note, adapting and developing new methods to carry out their crimes,” said Bill Ready, chief operating officer at PayPal. “PayPal has been at the forefront of developing innovative fraud prevention and risk management solutions for nearly 20 years, but until now, merchants havent been able to configure those solutions to manage the unique complexities of their businesses.”

Similitys technology uses a set of APIs and beacons to monitor digital transactions and buying activity in-app, on the web and in-store. By augmenting this data with machine learnign and feeds from other sources, it creates what the firm calls “adaptive” risk management, providing a protection strategy that can change from moment to moment based on evolving threats.

“Our vision for Simility was to create an adaptive risk management platform that empowers organisations operating in the digital world to manage an evolving fraud and risk landscape where data breaches are the new normal,” said Rahul Pangam, co-founder and CEO of Simility. “We are excited to enter the next phase of our growth with PayPal and are thrilled to join them to help drive the next generation of payment and commerce solutions while scaling our business together.”

The acquisition is the latest in a series of purchases for PayPal, which also recently acquired mobile POS firm iZettle for $2.2bn, and has strengthened its partnership with Google Pay.

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The new integrations will mean users who add PayPal to any one of Googles services will be able to have the option extended throughout the Google ecosystem with only minimal setup. For example, when adding their PayPal details to a Google Play account, users will be able to make the same details available as a payment option across Gmail, YouTube, Google Pay and Google Store, and even for peer-to-peer payments, without needing to log in again.

“Over the past few years, weve been focused on partnering across the industry to drive greater choice and flexibility in how and where our customers can pay – whether thats in mobile apps, online, in-store or across new contexts,” said Bill Ready, chief operating officer and executive vice president at PayPal. “As part of this effort, weve announced partnerships with leading payment networks, financial institutions and technology companies.

“PayPal and Google Pay share common goals of creating simple payment solutions across our platforms that enable people to shop more seamlessly. We look forward to continued collaboration that helps increase conversion for merchants and gives users the flexibility, security and speed that digital payments can offer.”

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The acquisition – PayPal’s largest ever – will expand PayPal’s in-store presence, enabling it to reach small businesses around the world through its merchant services offering. iZettle will become the European centre of excellence for PayPal’s in-store product and services offerings.

“Small businesses are the engine of the global economy and we are continuing to expand our platform to help them compete and win online, in-store and via mobile,” said Dan Schulman, president and CEO at PayPal. “iZettle and PayPal are a strategic fit, with a shared mission, values and culture – and complementary product offerings and geographies.

“In todays digital world, consumers want to be able to buy when, where and how they want. With nearly half a million merchants on their platform, [iZettle CEO] Jacob de Geer and his team add best-in-class capabilities and talent that will expand PayPals market opportunity to be a global one-stop solution for omnichannel commerce.”

The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of this year – at which point PayPal will gain in-store capabilities in Brazil, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, and Sweden, while accelerating its omnichannel commerce solutions in Australia, UK, and US.

De Geer will continue to lead iZettle, reporting to PayPal’s COO Bill Ready, and will be joined by the rest of the iZettle management team.

“Combining our assets and expertise with a global industry leader like PayPal allows us to deliver even more value to small businesses to help them succeed in a world of giants,” said De Geer. “The combination of iZettle and PayPal will provide tremendous benefits to our merchants who will have access to an even wider range of tools to help them get paid, sell smarter and grow.”

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