PayPal launches new programme to boost e-commerce uptake in Australia

PayPal launches new programme to boost e-commerce uptake in Australia

SYDNEY, 27^th April 2009 – PayPal Australia, a leading global online payment service, has announced a new programme to help more organisations get online and take advantage of the Internet to open up new revenue streams.

With e-commerce expected to continue to grow in the coming years, PayPal will launch a ‘Certified Developer and Partner Program’ to recruit developers and solution providers to help meet the growing demand for online payments outside of the retail sector. In addition, the company has made new tools and resources available to help organisations such as charities, foundations, schools and universities start accepting online payments and donations easily.

The programme will not only help to make e-commerce more accessible to sectors such as not-for-profits, education and local government, it also fits with PayPal’s global business objectives of doubling the volume of payments over the next three years and launching into new vertical markets.

Most organisations in Australia, especially in the non-profit and education sectors, are yet to take full advantage of e-commerce. For example, while 81% of not-for-profits in Australia have a website, only 27% use it to sell goods and services online while as little as 22% use the internet for fundraising[1]. This is despite the fact that individuals and businesses give $11 billion per year in money, goods and services to not-for-profit organisations.[2]

“We identified a gap in the market and designed this programme to help more organisations tap into the internet’s revenue building capacity, while also helping to build new markets for PayPal,” said Glenn Lim, Global Head of PayPal Alliances and Vertical Markets, who is currently in Australia for the launch.

“PayPal solutions meet a wide range of payment processing needs, from enabling charities to raise funds online, to helping local schools collect fees more efficiently and securely - our aim is to bring the benefits of e-commerce to the wider community.”

For the past three consecutive AC Nielson Consumer Reports, PayPal in Australia has emerged as the preferred way to pay online when compared to Visa and MasterCard.

With more than five million account holders in Australia, PayPal is available on 30 of the top 50 e-commerce sites.  However, non-profits (including charities, scout groups and sporting clubs) as well as schools, universities and local government also use PayPal to accept donations, fundraise, collect tuition fees, sell tickets and merchandise and accept bill payments such as council rates.

North Sydney Council was the first council to integrate PayPal within its website, giving local residents and property owners the ability to pay their rates online without sharing their financial information. In the non-profit sector, the Koala Hospital is using PayPal to raise funds online for its Adopt a Koala Programme, which attracts many supporters from all around the world.

To further help Australian non-profits take advantage of the internet for fundraising and online giving, PayPal is also partnering with global software and services provider, Blackbaud, to launch a new, low-cost service called BlackbaudNow. Scheduled for launch in Australia later this year, BlackbaudNow enables smaller non-profits to build a sophisticated website featuring in-built PayPal payments processing. Using simple templates, BlackbaudNow allows organisations to create a website presence easily so they can quickly grow their supporter bases and accept donations and payments online using PayPal.

"More than 50% of PayPal’s global payment volume is already off eBay. Non-traditional e-commerce markets, including non-profits, education and local government, are increasingly important to the business as PayPal seeks to double the volume of global payments over the next three years,” said Lim.

About PayPal

PayPal is the faster, safer way to pay and get paid online. The service allows members to send money without sharing financial information, with the flexibility to pay using their account balances, bank accounts, credit cards or promotional financing. With more than 73 million active accounts in 190 markets and 19 currencies around the world, PayPal enables global ecommerce. PayPal is an eBay company and is made up of three leading online payment services: the PayPal global payments platform, the Payflow Gateway, and Bill Me Later* (*not yet available in Australia). More information about the company can be found at https://www.paypal.com/au.

Media Contacts:

Kasia Ciszak, De Wintern Group

Tel: 02 9360 2156  

Email: kasia@dewintern.com