As Social Distancing becomes a fibre within our lives due to the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic, online payment platforms such as PayPal, have reported surge in digital transactions and revenue. Health officials around the world are discouraging usage of cash, which can be potential carrier for the virus.
PayPal announced its quarterly earnings for the first quarter of 2020, and largely beat wall street estimates. Profits nosedived by 87.4%, largely because the company increased its credit loss reserve, but still beat street estimates by a decent margin. With demands rising, the company expects a stronger recovery in payment volumes in the succeeding quarter, boosting shares up 8% in extended trading. It also recorded 7.4 million net new customers in April, which was more than expected amid the ongoing crisis.
However, fairing at $191 billion, it failed to meet the analysts’ estimates of $194.23 billion net payments. But the figure still indicates an 18% rise compared to 2019. It also recorded a fall in net income to $84 million in the first quarter compared to $667 million last year. In a statement, the company said “In March, the deteriorating environment resulting from COVID-19 further impacted PayPal’s business, affecting both volumes and revenue generated from travel and events verticals as well as impacting credit income”. The mobile payment company Square, too, reported similar projections for the year.
Online payment companies across the globe have show similar trends. In a recent statement, Alibaba-backed Indian payments firm PayTm announced that the number of users and the number of sessions per user drastically increased since February, witnessing a 200% increase in broadband and data card bill payments, along with 42% increase in mobile recharges and 30% increase in spends on groceries during lockdown.
Likewise, Razorpay recorded a 30% decline in online payments, citing the travel restrictions (87% decline) and reductions in logictics (96%), food industry (54%) and real estate (83%). Nevertheless, online payments in IT and Software, media and entertainment saw formidable growth according to the company’s report. The mobile payment company Square, too, reported similar projections for the year.
