Wallet, Meet Trashcan: PayPal President Says All Digital By 2015
PayPal President Scott Thompson today announced that PayPal now has 100 million active accounts, a pretty impressive statistic. I’m a big PayPal user and love the convenience of the service, but when I mention PayPal to most of my friends, few of them have accounts. Moving into the digital age does this mean more opportunity for PayPal or trouble brewing?
We believe that by 2015 digital currency will be accepted everywhere in the U.S. – from your local corner store to Walmart. We will no longer need to carry a wallet.
That’s a big statement. Wal-Mart – sure, but your local corner store? That’s a big push for 3.5 years. That being said, look 3 years backwards from now and it seems more realistic of an improvement, especially considering how big companies like Google are pushing it hard.
PayPal says they’ve built their business for the last 10 years based on digital payments, an obvious fact. But if your phone truly becomes your wallet, I think PayPal could potentially be left out of the loop. The company has become a magnificent middleman for dealing with online transactions, but if your PHONE becomes the middleman, couldn’t your bank or credit card company fill that role just as well, all things considered?
There is clearly going to be a huge shift in technology and PayPal is clearly a forward thinking company that knows tech, so I severely doubt they’ll become the next BlockBuster who simply collect dust, realize they were Rumpelstiltskinning on the bench, and shrivel up and die. But anytime such a huge transition takes place, it presents an opportunity for other companies to swoop in and collect marketshare, attention, and build entirely new businesses. Afterall, isn’t that exactly how PayPal started?
[polldaddy poll=5197712]