PayPal is undertaking a big reorganization that simplifies the company’s structure around a mobile theme. PayPal’s President David Marcus said Monday that the company’s product groups such as online, offline and mobile would be narrowed to just one group led by Hill Furguson, a former Zong executive who was previously leader of PayPal’s mobile unit before becoming global head of product last month.
PayPal is trying to build a more unified experience for its 110 million customers that brings a common experience to different products. For example, PayPal last week redesigned PayPal.com in attempt to be more consumer-friendly, eliminating thousands of unused pages and simplifying the log-in process. And in April, the company also reorganized its payments products for small business into one larger service called PayPal Payments making it easier for merchants to deploy online, in-person and mobile payments.
Marcus wrote in a new blog post that the new product group will be built around mobile to help accentuate the simplicity PayPal wants to deliver to consumers.
David Marcus
“Mobile is simpler by definition. Starting product designs from mobile will force the elimination of features introducing unneeded complexity,” Marcus said.
The company is also trying to simplify its financial services experience. It is combining the Americas regional organization with its Global Financial Services group under the leadership of Gary Marino, the founder and CEO of BillMeLater, which was acquired by PayPal in 2008. In other personnel news, Don Kingsborough, who has been leading PayPal’s offline payment efforts, is joining PayPal’s executive team while Rupert Keeley, the president of the Asia Pacific region is moving over to lead Europe Middle East and Africa.
Marcus is quickly putting his stamp on PayPal after being named president in March, after serving as VP of mobile. The drive toward simplicity with a mobile focus shouldn’t be surprising considering Marcus came over through the acquisition of carrier billing start-up Zong last year. Marcus helped launch PayPal Here, PayPal’s small business mobile payment product in March and then announced a big joint venture with Softbank last month to help launch PayPal Here in Japan.
PayPal has shown that mobile, which includes offline payments, is where it sees its future. The company made its name in online payments, but the much bigger opportunity is in targeting the more than 90 percent of transactions that still happen in physical retail stores. To do that, PayPal has had to get more mobile and a lot more simple. Under Marcus, the company is moving toward both.
Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.
- The future of mobile: a segment analysis by GigaOM Pro
- Mobile payments: forecasts, technologies and opportunities
- Social media in Q1: commerce and discovery dominated
