4 minute read
Growing and Thriving
PayPal is innovating to stay competitive in a transformative period for financial services, Annette Hickey, VP for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Customer Services, PayPal, tells InBUSINESS.
PayPal has been at the forefront of fintech since its inception and continues to innovate and stay ahead of competitors. Globally the company’s technology is empowering more than 300 million customers and businesses, with that number growing all the time—adding 9.8 million new active accounts in the last quarter. The value of payments processed by PayPal in that period was also up by 25%.
“For us here, it’s so fantastic to be at the forefront of this digital payments revolution,” says Annette Hickey, VP for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Customer Services, PayPal. “We’ve had a very good year in PayPal, particularly around product launches.
“Customer expectations are shifting all the time with people wanting to be able to move their money at the touch of a button and shop on the move and send money to friends and family. Demand for mobile commerce and digital payments grows and we’re helping to cater for this. People want more efficiency and greater security around the services and this is something that PayPal is synonymous with across the globe.”
New launches include Money Pools, a new service in the app which allows groups of friends to pool money together or save for a common goal— ideal for chipping in on gifts or save for a holiday for instance.
Another exciting innovation is Xoom, which which enables International money transfers to more than 130 markets.
Innovation is key to survival in such a competitive industry. “The sector is so fast-paced, it’s highly competitive and it’s always changing,” says Annette. “It’s the most transformative period in the history of money and financial services ever. While many of our competitors are finding it difficult to stay relevant in such a rapidly evolving landscape, we at PayPal are thriving because we make it easier for people to manage and move their money.
“We’re also helping businesses to overcome challenges of the increasingly global and mobile marketplace by giving them the tools that they need to engage customers and grow sales throughout the world by having our button on the website.” It seems that sticking to a key goal is at the heart of the company’s success—although the services evolve, around this: “We pride ourselves on continually innovating within the sector and finding ways to make the movement and management of money more secure and accessible, and faster and affordable for all,” Annette states.
AN INCLUSIVE EMPLOYER
The company has been in Ireland since it opened its doors in Dublin in 2003 and has since become one of Ireland’s leading employers, with 2,500 staff between its sites in Dublin and Dundalk. “It’s great to be able to contribute to both the Dublin and the Dundalk economies by creating employment and career opportunities for the amazing multilingual international talent that we have here across our centres, and building their careers,” says Annette.
Aligning with the issues that employees care about is crucial to talent acquisition and staff retention in a very competitive marketplace, and PayPal has been a leader in this sphere. “We’re very proactive in our approach to diversity and inclusion,” states Annette, adding, “I personally am the executive sponsor for PayPal Pride here in Ireland. That celebrates PayPal’s commitment to and support of the LGBT teammates and networks.
“We also have networks like Unity, our network for women, and also this year saw the introduction of a new network called Amplify, which supports our black employees who are very active here, on the sites in Dublin and Dundalk.”
She continues, “In addition to this we run really successful wellness programmes. Mind Yourself, which is a programme launched in Dundalk, has now been rolled out globally across PayPal. We have wellness rooms and gyms in both of our Irish sites.”
She points to the wellness facilities on site, the company’s emphasis on work life balance, and their giving funds, which allows teammates choose where to donate to charity, as just some of the features that appeal to potential hires, and to retain talent. “The CSR initiatives that we have really help our talent—their values are in line with our values.”
On being recognised as Company of the Year, Annette says, “Every achievement is fantastic and we take pride in each and every one of them, from daily wins to big milestones and this award is fantastic because it’s a testament to the efforts of the entire team, the 2,500 people here in Ireland have contributed towards us achieving this and supporting our customers.
“This award with InBUSINESS is a lovely way to finish 2019. Being recognised as Company of the Year is incredibly special and we celebrate this one together, because without the hard work of the team-mates we wouldn’t be here.”
