PayPal plans more local bank partnerships, CEO says

PayPal Inc., the online-payment service owned by EBay Inc., plans to forge more partnerships with banks to tap local consumers as it expands into new markets such as China.

"Over the next 12 months, what you'll see from us is a very aggressive sequencing of new country launches," Chief Executive Officer Scott Thompson said today. "At the same time, you'll see a series of these type of bank relationships launched where the bank customers can link their accounts in that bank to a PayPal account and use it all around the world."

Thompson, speaking in an interview in Toronto, declined to say what banks or regions he's targeting.

PayPal is striking deals in emerging markets, where faster economic growth and lower Internet penetration afford more opportunities than in the U.S. PayPal said in March it will offer accounts to customers of China UnionPay, a national electronic-payment network, to bolster its presence in that country, which is dominated by rival Alipay.

"It's going to be a big market for us," said Thompson. "If the numbers are right, 300 million middle class growing to 400 million, and the use of technology is so deep-rooted and so impressive, if you're PayPal, over the long term you have to be there in a meaningful way."

EBay, based in based in San Jose, California, fell 29 cents to $21.88 at 1:32 p.m. New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. The shares had dropped 5.8 percent before today.