Report: eBay Wants To Spin PayPal Into Standalone Business

PayPal is a strong player in the world of mobile payment solutions, and leans heavily on eBay for leverage in that realm. That's because eBay owns PayPal, and uses them as an in-house payment processor. A new report suggests that the online marketplace may be looking to spin PayPal off as its own unit, likely making it more nimble in the process.

According to Statista, PayPal has over 150 million registered users, a number that has been steadily climbing quarterly. Other competitors like Square are also in the picture, but don't have nearly the footprint PayPal does.

PayPal has been trying in earnest to forge a path toward a more user-friendly version of itself, creating features wherein you can request money from friends or pay ahead at a restaurant. Still, the consumer market doesn't win the big battles — enterprise does. PayPal spinning clear of eBay would likely entice others to use it as a payment solution. If an online payment portal wasn't giving eBay a cut of their revenue, they'd likely find PayPal a much more attractive offer.

The report cites insiders, who say eBay has told potential PayPal CEO contenders to ready themselves for the job and the split. The move could come as early as next year, according to these sources, but take it with a measure of levity. The source of this news has been hit-and-miss of late, and we don't have to look past yesterday to find how much their sources tend to miss the target.

Source: The Information