PayPal, the world’s largest online payment provider, is broadening its reach with new features and capabilities to support a diverse array of players in online commerce.
In a blog post on Monday, PayPal’s EVP and chief operating officer Bill Ready explained how the new PayPal Commerce Platform is angling for new business from brands, retailers, e-commerce solutions providers and crowdfunding platforms.
Ready said that the new service will help businesses foster global growth through PayPal’s network of 277 million active users. It will also aid in navigating compliance issues, helping businesses meet and anticipate the demands of local regulators in the platform’s 200-plus markets.
New artificial intelligence and machine learning-powered fraud and risk-reduction tools will be available through PayPal Commerce, informed by the company’s “trillions of transactions and more than 50 petabytes of data,” Ready said. The platform will also give businesses access to different types of payment services like mobile point-of-sale, business financing and the ability to offer consumer credit to shoppers as an alternate way to finance purchases.
PayPal currently services 22 million businesses across the globe, and the the PayPal Commerce Platform has already garnered the support of leading e-commerce platforms like Facebook, Instagram, BigCommerce, Grailed, Yahoo Small Business and others.
Though he highlighted these major players, Ready also insisted that the platform’s benefits to small businesses were a driver for the program’s conception.
“We are at a moment in time where we can finally put the same tech and capabilities in the hands of all businesses regardless of size,” he wrote. “We are bringing our vision of open commerce and partnership to life… to power commerce in a way that allows more businesses and more people to participate in the benefits of the digital economy.”
He added that the goal of the program is to foster a “thriving, vibrant, and diverse ecosystem of merchants, sellers, entrepreneurs and businesses of all sizes.”
The PayPal Commerce Platform went live on Monday in the U.S., France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the U.K. Ready added that the company would look to expand the program to more than 40 markets by the end of the year.