The FINANCIAL — In order to offer TBC Bank customers an easy and quick way to create PayPal accounts, TBC Bank is commencing cooperation with global payment provider PayPal. “This integration will help Georgia to remain one of the leaders of growth in our region,” Damien Perillat, Managing Director of PayPal Central and Eastern Europe, told The FINANCIAL.
Thanks to PayPal, all TBC Bank customers will be able to create a PayPal account directly from their TBC Bank online banking page. After the creation of PayPal accounts, TBC Bank customers will gain full access to PayPal global online payment functionality and will be able to easily and safely pay anytime and anywhere.
As a result of PayPal and TBC Bank integration, the PayPal account creation procedure will be streamlined for TBC Bank customers. Pre-filled personal information forms will allow TBC customers to create their own PayPal accounts within minutes directly from their TBC online banking accounts.
“PayPal has made paying online and mobile a way of life for its customers around the world. We make it safer and quicker to pay and send money. We are delighted to help TBC Bank develop its customer experience by making it even easier and quicker to create your PayPal account now on the TBC Bank platform,” Perillat added.
“Forward-thinking financial institutions, such as TBC Bank, understand that PayPal offers a tremendous opportunity to evolve their current offerings and power their future success. Together we can give our mutual customers better services and more freedom and flexibility to get the most out of their money,” Perillat said.
Q. What are the benefits for TBC, PayPal and Georgian customers as a result of the partnership? Also, how do you think this partnership might help TBC Bank to attract new customers?
A. Thanks to PayPal, all TBC Bank customers will be able to create a PayPal account directly from their TBC Bank online banking page. After the creation of PayPal accounts, TBC Bank customers will gain full access to PayPal global online payment functionality and will be able to easily and safely pay anytime and anywhere.
As a result of PayPal and TBC Bank integration, the PayPal account creation procedure will be streamlined for TBC Bank customers. Pre-filled personal information forms will allow TBC customers to create their PayPal accounts within minutes directly in TBC online banking accounts.
This way, the cooperation will bring together the strengths of both companies – PayPal’s global online and mobile payment solutions with 157 million active accounts in 203 markets, along with TBC Bank‘s extensive local market knowledge and a total of one million consumers in Georgia.
Q. How is PayPal business developing in Central and Eastern Europe and what are your expectations regarding Georgia?
A. We see growth in all Central and Eastern European countries and Georgia is one of the leaders. Overall, the perspective is bright. The internet users’ number growth determines also an increase for online shopping. Compared to the region and beyond, in CEE, including Georgia, there are three main differences:
First is the important fragmentation among markets in terms of market size and maturity.
Second is the resistance in some countries to cash payment at delivery, which is again symptomatic of a lack of trust between buyers and sellers.
Third the serious gap between the impressive mobile adoption by consumers, on one side, and the slowness shown by some merchants to be mobile ready and fully monetize this new audience.
Q. A bank card is no longer necessary when paying with PayPal. Will PayPal become a kind of “competitor” of bank cards including TBC Bank cards?
A. PayPal is unique. We are a technology company, but PayPal is also a financial services company. We sit between these two worlds and bring them together – making money work seamlessly around the globe. This puts us in a unique position to innovate at scale on behalf of our customers. It has taken us more than a decade to build a regulatory compliance framework and a global customer support network that enables us to operate seamlessly in 203 markets around the globe. Whether it’s a financial services company or a tech company, we believe that they don’t have our reach, relationships, risk systems, global scale or innovation.
In many ways PayPal and the credit card companies are united in our competition against outdated and inconvenient ways of paying including cash and (cheques/checks). We work collaboratively with the credit card companies to give consumers convenience and choice in how they want to pay anytime, anywhere and on any device.
Q. What kind of services will be launched on the Georgian market by PayPal?
A. When you deal with people’s money you better do it right. That’s why we follow a step by step approach. We have started from enabling Georgian consumers to shop safely worldwide. Now we have introduced new functionalities with TBC Bank. We need time for the next step, but let’s agree that you will be one of the first people to learn about them.
PayPal is a free service that moves the payment amount of your purchase from your credit card to the merchant without sharing your financial information. You only need two things to start using PayPal: an email address and a credit card. Regarding setting up an account, the first step is to complete the sign up form. We’ll send you an email and you simply click on a link to confirm your email address. Then, you need to add your credit card information to your account. PayPal will store and safeguard your card details for your future purchases. Then you are ready to go shopping anywhere that PayPal is accepted. Regarding the payment process:
Step 1: Look for the PayPal button during checkout.
Step 2: Login to PayPal by entering your email and password. Your personal and credit card information are NEVER exposed online or shared with the stores you purchase from.
Step 3: Confirm your purchase with just one click and you’re done.
Q. Why has PayPal decided to enter Georgia now? For many years it was observing the Georgian market and the officials were saying that Georgia wasn’t ready to accept PayPal. What has changed and why has Georgia now become of interest to PayPal?
A. Entering new markets is a long-term commitment. As is our experience everywhere else in the world, expanding our business in a new market requires a lot of preparation, attention and investment. Especially if you deal with people’s money you’d better do it right the first time. It requires working closely with the local ecosystem (including regulators) and understanding deeply local consumer needs. This is particularly important in the field of payment services and Georgia is no exception.
Q. Besides TBC Bank, do you plan to have other partners in Georgia?
A. Absolutely, there’s no shortage of ideas on how we can work more closely with Georgian banks and other entities.
Q. Could you please give us information about the number of active accounts of PayPal, how the revenues have increased, total payment volume and how many transactions were processed by PayPal in 2014?
A. PayPal has 157 million active digital wallets and is available in 203 markets. PayPal revenues represented 45% of eBay Inc. revenues in Q3 2014. PayPal revenues for Q3 2014 were USD 1.95 billion, growing 20% year over year. PayPal’s international business generated USD 1 billion in revenue in Q3 2014, and international revenue grew at a rate of 21% year over year. PayPal’s net Total Payment Volume, the total value of transactions in Q3 2014 was USD 56.6 billion, up 29% year over year. PayPal transacted USD 7,118 in Total Payment Volume every second in Q3 2014. PayPal customers made 895 million transactions in Q3 2014, or more than 9.7 million payments every day. PayPal is on track to process more than 1 billion mobile transactions in 2014.
Q. In which new markets will PayPal enter in 2015 and what are your future plans in general?
A. PayPal is an international company and we have a strategy when it comes to entering new countries. We have demands from many countries and we will be in those countries sooner rather than later, as we are implementing our expansion strategy step by step.
Regarding the next year, eBay Inc. plans to separate eBay and PayPal into two independent publicly traded companies in the second half of 2015. During this process, our focus continues to be on delivering great shopping and paying experiences for our customers.
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