As ecommerce continues to surge, PayPal has announced earnings that it says are the strongest first quarter results in its history, with net revenue climbing 31% year-on-year to $6bn in Q1 2021.

The highlights:

• Total payment volume is even up on a record Q4, and saw year-on-year growth of 50%, while active accounts grew by 21%.
• PayPal added 14.5 million accounts in the quarter, hitting 392 million in total and making it a formidable force in global finance. 
• On cross-border, the share of total payments volume remains flat – although the overall growth did mean cross-border volume rose in line with total payments volume and was up 50%, year-on-year.
• Key cross-border corridors included UK to EU, and US to China, Canada and the UK. The fastest growing cross-border segmentswere cosmetics, electronics, home goods, fashion and gaming.
• In addition to the continuing focus on ecommerce among consumers, PayPal highlighted the expansion of its buy now pay later offerings, as well as the launch of its Pay with Crypto service for US consumers – both paths to expanding its userbase and revenue per customer. 
• The strong quarter has led the company to up its guidance for FY 21, with revenue now expected to grow around 20% and TPV by 30%.

How are ecommerce companies competing on cross-border?

Lucy Ingham

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Lucy is Head of Content & Editor-in-Chief at FXC Intelligence, overseeing all content and taking deep dives into the trends and data driving changes in payments. Before joining FXC Intelligence, Lucy worked as a technology journalist and editor, interviewing CEOs and major names across enterprise technology, including fintech. She has an MSc in Development Anthropology from Durham University.