PayPal acquires Japanese payment service Paidy for $2.7 billion

The payment service provider PayPal wants to expand further on the Japanese market and announces the purchase of its competitor Paidy, which cost the company around 2.7 billion US dollars. With it one wants to extend above all the influence in the area of the installment payments.

PayPal buys Paidy

In order to intervene also in Japan in the fight for the market leadership, PayPal incorporates the Japanese buy-now-pay-later service Paidy for the equivalent of about 2.28 billion euros, as PayPal has officially confirmed. This is intended to further expand its own position in the market and create new payment options with a model for later payments such as installments.

The Japanese company Paidy was known for its complete range of payment technologies. This includes a proprietary system to pre-screen and evaluate customers’ creditworthiness to guarantee payments to merchants. PayPal’s announcement on the acquisition said Paidy was able to “rapidly develop and bring innovative products to market”.

First and foremost Paidy 3-Pay, which allows installment payments without having a credit card. Around six million registered customers in Japan already took advantage of Paidy’s offering. Through the acquisition, Paidy should not only drive PayPal’s global expansion, but also “develop unique services as a new shopping standard”.

The Paidy brand will remain after the acquisition. The business will continue to operate independently, and Paidy CEO Riku Sugie and founder Russell Cummer will continue to lead the company. Japan is considered the third largest e-commerce market in the world.