PayPal already partners with some fintechs in Africa, including M-Pesa and Flutterwave, to enable local payments. But PayPal World would not only enable payment overseas and switching between wallets, but merchants using PayPal could accept payments from local wallets without having to invest in new technology, such as point of sale (POS) machines, to integrate with the various providers.
Williams said the aim was to solve specific problems, such as being unable to pay for goods overseas because a digital wallet wasn’t backed by Visa or Mastercard, or the inability to scan a M-Pesa QR code to make a payment via a PayPal wallet.
Partners already announced for PayPal World include National Payments Corporation of India’s UPI, China’s WeChat Pay, Brazil’s Mercado Pago, which Williams said represented a combined total of 2 billion wallet users.
In September, PayPal announced a commitment to invest $100 million in the Middle East and Africa to drive innovation and support entrepreneurs. Williams said the funds would include venture investment.
“We’re looking at bringing more of our capabilities,” said Williams. “We’re looking at hiring staff across the continent and across the region to continue to scale the business.”