A dent in PayPal's superapp ambitions
- Lucinda Shen, author of Axios Pro: Fintech Deals
Illustration: Gabriella Turrisi/Axios
PayPal, the payments company, announced on Tuesday that it's pulling back from its stock-trading ambitions as it cuts costs.
Why it's the BFD: Last year, CEO Dan Schulman touted the company's plans to build a superapp that would allow it to more effectively cross-sell to merchants and consumers. Stock-trading was meant to be part of the effort.
Driving the news: "We were going to focus on Invest this year, like stock trading and that kind of thing. We're not going to do that," Schulman said in the earnings call Tuesday. "We have reallocated those headcount into checkout. We've also been able to reduce headcount. We don't have the same regulatory footprint that we thought we might have."
Of note: Having already launched other capabilities like high-yield savings last year, PayPal's superapp ambitions aren't dead. Those ambitions, though, have been bodychecked.