Crisis Sped Up Digital Moves by Years, Says CEO of PayPal; Stock Up

When the pandemic began, “consumers in lockdown had no choice but to do all of their shopping online,” said PayPal CEO Dan Schulman on a quarterly call Wednesday. The vast majority of consumers now say that post-COVID-19 crisis, “they will continue to shop online at their current elevated levels because it is more convenient,” he said. “Retailers are rapidly adapting to a new landscape.” PayPal estimates the pandemic “accelerated a digital wave of change across almost every industry by three to five years, unleashing a profound and permanent structural transformation,” he said. The service added 16 million net new active customers in the quarter, he said. The stock closed Thursday up 7.4% at $270.43. See Q4 materials here.