• Home
  • News
  • Fortune 500
  • Tech
  • Finance
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia
TechFortune 500

PayPal And Visa Make Nice

By
Leena Rao
Leena Rao
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Leena Rao
Leena Rao
Down Arrow Button Icon
July 21, 2016, 5:19 PM ET
EBay Plans To Split Off PayPal As Mobile Payments Gain Momentum
PayPal signage is displayed in front of eBay Inc. headquarters in San Jose, California, U.S., on Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2014. EBay Inc. is spinning off its PayPal division, heeding demands by activist shareholder Carl Icahn and giving the business independence it can use to contend with rising competition from Apple Inc. and Google Inc. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesPhotograph by David Paul Morris—Getty Images

PayPal and Visa, longtime frenemies, looked more like friends on Thursday afternoon after announcing a new partnership.

The deal calls for PayPal to start sharing data with Visa about transactions that are funded using Visa cards. The deal also tries to resolve Visa’s complaints that PayPal encouraged its users to tap their bank accounts rather than their credit cards as a way to avoid paying Visa’s credit card fees.

Visa has long been frustrated with PayPal because the payments giant encourages its 188 million users to use their bank accounts to fund their PayPal digital wallets through what is known as ACH. It saves PayPal on every transaction because Visa and MasterCard charge higher fees.

In turn, Visa has wanted to PayPal to stop encouraging its users to use bank accounts, and start pushing them to use credit cards, so it can collect fees.

Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s technology newsletter.

Visa’s CEO Charlie Scharf criticized PayPal for the practice in May, according to Recode:

I’ve been very, very clear on this one which is if you are a foe, you’re not a friend. And PayPal’s historic model, on the one hand, 50% of the volume is ACH, the other 50 percent is general purpose cards of which we’re half of it. So, they drive a lot of business our way. That’s supposedly the friend part of it.

The foe part is where they then use historically those transactions to do everything they can to get those to ACH where we and our clients get disintermediated from the transaction, the entire experience, and it causes tremendous customer service problems for the bank specifically.

The other bone Visa has to pick is that when Visa cardholders pay using their PayPal wallets, Visa doesn’t get any of the transaction data.

For more on PayPal, watch:

With Thursday’s deal, PayPal said it would no longer encourage Visa cardholders to link their bank accounts instead of their credit cards. PayPal will also start sharing data about Visa-funded transactions with the credit card company, which the company says will be similar to the data collected when a Visa card is swiped at a store or used online. Additionally, PayPal will be able to be used as a payment option at any retail location that accepts contactless payments for Visa cardholders.

In turn, Visa promises to not increase fees for PayPal, and is offering undisclosed “economic incentives” for increased volume of payments through Visa cards. It doesn’t appear that PayPal has a similar relationship with MasterCard or American Express.

Meanwhile, PayPal continues to grow, after spinning out of eBay last year. In the second quarter, PayPal processed $86 billion in payments volume, up 29% from the same quarter in 2015. It also processed $24 billion in mobile payment volume, up 56% from the second quarter in 2015. And Venmo, a PayPal-owned payments app that is popular among Millennials, processed $3.9 billion of payments volume, up 141%.

About the Author
By Leena Rao
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Tech

Big TechStreaming
Trump says Netflix-Warner Bros. deal ‘could be a problem’
By Hadriana Lowenkron, Se Young Lee and BloombergDecember 7, 2025
3 hours ago
Big TechOpenAI
OpenAI goes from stock market savior to burden as AI risks mount
By Ryan Vlastelica and BloombergDecember 7, 2025
3 hours ago
AIData centers
HP’s chief commercial officer predicts the future will include AI-powered PCs that don’t share data in the cloud
By Nicholas GordonDecember 7, 2025
5 hours ago
Future of WorkJamie Dimon
Jamie Dimon says even though AI will eliminate some jobs ‘maybe one day we’ll be working less hard but having wonderful lives’
By Jason MaDecember 7, 2025
9 hours ago
CryptoCryptocurrency
So much of crypto is not even real—but that’s starting to change
By Pete Najarian and Joe BruzzesiDecember 7, 2025
14 hours ago
Elon Musk
Big TechSpaceX
SpaceX to offer insider shares at record-setting $800 billion valuation
By Edward Ludlow, Loren Grush, Lizette Chapman, Eric Johnson and BloombergDecember 6, 2025
1 day ago

Most Popular

placeholder alt text
AI
Nvidia CEO says data centers take about 3 years to construct in the U.S., while in China 'they can build a hospital in a weekend'
By Nino PaoliDecember 6, 2025
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
Real Estate
The 'Great Housing Reset' is coming: Income growth will outpace home-price growth in 2026, Redfin forecasts
By Nino PaoliDecember 6, 2025
2 days ago
placeholder alt text
Economy
The most likely solution to the U.S. debt crisis is severe austerity triggered by a fiscal calamity, former White House economic adviser says
By Jason MaDecember 6, 2025
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
Big Tech
Mark Zuckerberg rebranded Facebook for the metaverse. Four years and $70 billion in losses later, he’s moving on
By Eva RoytburgDecember 5, 2025
2 days ago
placeholder alt text
Economy
JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon says Europe has a 'real problem’
By Katherine Chiglinsky and BloombergDecember 6, 2025
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
Uncategorized
Transforming customer support through intelligent AI operations
By Lauren ChomiukNovember 26, 2025
11 days ago
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • Future 50
  • World’s Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
Sections
  • Finance
  • Leadership
  • Success
  • Tech
  • Asia
  • Europe
  • Environment
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Health
  • Retail
  • Lifestyle
  • Politics
  • Newsletters
  • Magazine
  • Features
  • Commentary
  • Mpw
  • CEO Initiative
  • Conferences
  • Personal Finance
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
About Us
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map

© 2025 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.