今年4月初,雖然身在加州的家中,PayPal首席執(zhí)行官丹·舒爾曼卻身處兩個(gè)抗擊新冠病毒疫情的戰(zhàn)場(chǎng)。一方面,他要與美國(guó)財(cái)政部密切合作,設(shè)法通過(guò)PayPal來(lái)幫助政府將經(jīng)濟(jì)救助貸款發(fā)放給小企業(yè),將現(xiàn)金補(bǔ)助直接電子轉(zhuǎn)賬給民眾。另一方面,他要帶領(lǐng)他的全球員工應(yīng)對(duì)旗下數(shù)字支付服務(wù)(PayPal以及移動(dòng)應(yīng)用Venmo)需求的“井噴”。舒爾曼認(rèn)為,這一趨勢(shì)的出現(xiàn),完全是因?yàn)橐咔槠仁谷藗儾坏貌痪蛹腋綦x,不得不在線遠(yuǎn)程處理日常的生活和工作。
在接受《財(cái)富》雜志采訪期間,舒爾曼具體解釋了新冠病毒疫情如何不僅僅刺激在線支付的增長(zhǎng),還催生一些前所未見(jiàn)的財(cái)務(wù)行為——他認(rèn)為其中的一些趨勢(shì)甚至?xí)掷m(xù)到疫情消退以后。“我們不會(huì)倒退回過(guò)去那樣了?!彼f(shuō)道,“我們不會(huì)像以前那樣頻繁使用現(xiàn)金了?!?/p>
以下是采訪的內(nèi)容(因篇幅和清晰度而有所刪改)。
《財(cái)富》:我希望你能給我們說(shuō)一下現(xiàn)在的情況。我們面臨著前所未有的局面,很多經(jīng)濟(jì)部門(mén)都已經(jīng)陷入停滯。我們關(guān)心的一點(diǎn)是,這如何影響到金融系統(tǒng),美國(guó)人在如何處理他們的財(cái)務(wù)事宜。
丹·舒爾曼:新冠病毒的影響非常大,人們都不得不居家隔離,都不出門(mén)。這正在改變我們所有人的工作方式,改變我們所有人的生活方式。所以你可以看到,所有數(shù)字產(chǎn)品的使用都增長(zhǎng)了。我是Verizon的董事會(huì)成員,我們看到無(wú)線服務(wù)和互聯(lián)網(wǎng)的使用均呈現(xiàn)大幅增長(zhǎng)。與此同時(shí),人們也在以一些我們從未想象過(guò)的方式使用數(shù)字支付服務(wù)。不僅數(shù)字支付的使用有了巨大的增長(zhǎng),人們使用它們的方式也在發(fā)生改變。
你看到的增長(zhǎng)案例有哪些?
過(guò)去幾周,注冊(cè)PayPal或Venmo的新客戶數(shù)量急劇增加,有的時(shí)段甚至翻倍增加。總的來(lái)看,我們發(fā)現(xiàn)人們出現(xiàn)了不同的使用模式——周末在線時(shí)間多很多。我們看到,食品雜貨、電子產(chǎn)品、家居、園藝等垂直品類的購(gòu)買量多了很多。游戲消費(fèi)更是呈現(xiàn)爆炸式增長(zhǎng)。
但真正讓我感興趣的是,同時(shí)也是我們從未見(jiàn)過(guò)的是,對(duì)有需要的人的自發(fā)捐錢(qián)活動(dòng)顯著增多。有的是捐給朋友,有的是捐給陌生人,通過(guò)像Venmo或者PayPal這樣的點(diǎn)對(duì)點(diǎn)網(wǎng)絡(luò)來(lái)捐。這類行為猛然增多。我們目前在推特上展開(kāi)一項(xiàng)主題為#Venmoitforward的捐助激勵(lì)活動(dòng),一旦看到有人隨手做了件好事,我們就會(huì)給他們的Venmo賬戶存入20美元,并鼓勵(lì)他們繼續(xù)多做好事。我看到,人們真的在踴躍捐錢(qián)給在抗疫前線為我們的日常生活默默奉獻(xiàn)的英雄,不管是雜貨店或藥店的收銀員、急救人員,還是醫(yī)護(hù)人員。這些捐贈(zèng)的金額達(dá)到數(shù)千萬(wàn)美元。
有趣的是,在Venmo上,人們會(huì)用表情符號(hào)來(lái)表示他們想要花錢(qián)買什么東西。在我們的平臺(tái)上,以前最熱門(mén)的表情符號(hào)是比薩餅,諸如此類。而現(xiàn)在最流行的表情符號(hào)則是醫(yī)療口罩,使用這個(gè)表情符號(hào)的支付數(shù)量增長(zhǎng)了375%。我們還看到,許多名人明星開(kāi)始站出來(lái)向他們的粉絲伸出援手。泰勒·斯威夫特通過(guò)PayPal捐款給一些深陷經(jīng)濟(jì)困境的粉絲,愛(ài)莉安娜·格蘭德也在這么做。我認(rèn)為,這種趨勢(shì)并不僅僅是剛剛顯現(xiàn),還呈現(xiàn)出爆發(fā)態(tài)勢(shì)。
對(duì)比上一次危機(jī)的情況,比如10多年前的金融危機(jī),你覺(jué)得金融科技和支付技術(shù)幫助人們的方式不一樣了嗎?
我想你也看到過(guò)去10年里移動(dòng)領(lǐng)域的爆炸式發(fā)展吧。有了智能手機(jī),就像手掌上有了一家銀行支行,一切盡在你的操控之中。但仔細(xì)想想,在這樣大家都居家隔離的時(shí)期,也有一些人沒(méi)有銀行賬戶——目前約有25%的美國(guó)人未被銀行服務(wù)覆蓋。他們可能沒(méi)有銀行賬戶。他們通常得跑到兌現(xiàn)支票的地方兌現(xiàn),但現(xiàn)在不能出門(mén)。不過(guò),他們可以直接在手機(jī)上操作,可以先給支票拍張照片,然后將照片存到像PayPal這樣的平臺(tái)上,又或者存入銀行賬戶。因此,我們看到PayPal核心服務(wù)和Venmo均呈現(xiàn)需求井噴。很多以前沒(méi)有PayPal或者Venmo賬戶的人,現(xiàn)在都需要用上這些服務(wù)了。所以,面對(duì)需求的井噴,我們正在努力讓人們能夠盡可能輕松地使用我們的服務(wù)。我想,如今技術(shù)的普及使用,正使得這些原來(lái)未被銀行服務(wù)覆蓋的人口成為數(shù)字經(jīng)濟(jì)的一部分。
你們一直在與財(cái)政部合作,研究PayPal如何能夠幫助政府向美國(guó)民眾和小企業(yè)發(fā)放經(jīng)濟(jì)救助金。(注:此次采訪結(jié)束后,美國(guó)國(guó)稅局讓具備領(lǐng)取救助金資格的人可以選擇通過(guò)直接電子轉(zhuǎn)賬來(lái)收款,包括轉(zhuǎn)賬到PayPal或者Venmo賬戶。)
確保那些支票落到最需要的人群手中,正是我們目前與政府一起探討的一件事。我們有很多客戶不一定有銀行賬戶,但有PayPal或Venmo賬戶。我們需要確保有強(qiáng)大的身份驗(yàn)證技術(shù),來(lái)保證那些支票落到正確的人的手中,這正是我們引以為豪的地方。
像那樣與政府共事,對(duì)你們來(lái)說(shuō)陌生嗎?
我們其實(shí)與多個(gè)不同的政府部門(mén)共事,無(wú)論是州政府,還是世界各地的市政部門(mén),我們跟他們一起處理人們的各種日常事務(wù),比如繳稅、退稅、交停車費(fèi)、交水電費(fèi)等等。但當(dāng)下與美國(guó)聯(lián)邦政府所做的事情規(guī)模之大,前所未見(jiàn)。給政府做這樣的事情并不容易。但如何來(lái)做,如何找到最好的辦法來(lái)盡快完成這樣的事情,我覺(jué)得解決這些問(wèn)題的過(guò)程還是會(huì)逐漸催生出一個(gè)長(zhǎng)期性的解決方案。對(duì)于PayPal來(lái)說(shuō),這顯然不是什么賺錢(qián)的項(xiàng)目。這是惠民項(xiàng)目,是理所應(yīng)當(dāng)要做的事情,對(duì)于所有的數(shù)字平臺(tái)來(lái)說(shuō)都是如此。
我們已經(jīng)有一部分客戶把他們的退稅直接退到我們的平臺(tái)上。那些客戶也將能夠直接獲得政府的救助支票。但這類事情大部分都不是新鮮事,它們只是規(guī)模上沒(méi)有達(dá)到現(xiàn)在的程度而已。
過(guò)去幾周,我們聽(tīng)到了很多負(fù)面的消息和趨勢(shì)。對(duì)于你提到的“需求激增”,你覺(jué)得它會(huì)帶來(lái)什么正面的影響嗎?
我的確認(rèn)為,數(shù)字支付的新時(shí)代正在到來(lái),我們不會(huì)倒退回過(guò)去那樣了。我們不會(huì)再頻繁使用現(xiàn)金了。我想,未來(lái)大家都會(huì)非常注重衛(wèi)生問(wèn)題。我想,商店內(nèi)二維碼的使用正在增加,未來(lái)也將持續(xù)增加。我們?cè)绞遣饺霐?shù)字經(jīng)濟(jì),它就越普及。我們需要確保這一點(diǎn)能夠發(fā)生,因?yàn)槲掖_實(shí)認(rèn)為數(shù)字化支付更節(jié)省時(shí)間——你不必到支票兌現(xiàn)處排隊(duì)兌現(xiàn),也不必排隊(duì)支付各類賬單。另外,數(shù)字化支付能大幅節(jié)省成本。有時(shí)候,兌現(xiàn)支票的手續(xù)費(fèi)達(dá)到2%到5%,支付賬單也要收取手續(xù)費(fèi)。如果是通過(guò)電子方式來(lái)做這些,那些最需要省錢(qián)的人就能省下一大筆錢(qián)。因此,我希望,這會(huì)成為人們改變資金的管理轉(zhuǎn)移方式的一個(gè)轉(zhuǎn)折點(diǎn),會(huì)成為他們從線下轉(zhuǎn)向數(shù)字化的一個(gè)轉(zhuǎn)折點(diǎn),因?yàn)槲矣X(jué)得這真的能夠給那些最需要的人帶來(lái)很多實(shí)在的好處,也可以給我們的經(jīng)濟(jì)和社會(huì)帶來(lái)很多實(shí)在的好處。
聽(tīng)起來(lái)你看到了許多有利于PayPal的商業(yè)趨勢(shì),與此同時(shí)我們也聽(tīng)到了許多商業(yè)界前景慘淡方面的報(bào)道。你認(rèn)為PayPal是否會(huì)逆勢(shì)發(fā)展呢?是否有望在大家都在苦苦應(yīng)對(duì)疫情之時(shí)取得非常可觀的第一季度業(yè)績(jī)呢?
我認(rèn)為,得益于當(dāng)下所有的這些趨勢(shì),疫情結(jié)束之后,我們公司有機(jī)會(huì)變得比疫情開(kāi)始時(shí)強(qiáng)大很多。但跟所有其它的公司一樣,我們也受到了疫情的影響。我們的客戶也是如此。我們的客戶包括眾多的旅行公司、票務(wù)公司和會(huì)務(wù)服務(wù)公司,所以我們也無(wú)法免受當(dāng)下的一些趨勢(shì)的影響。但我們非常幸運(yùn),當(dāng)下也有很多幫助我們抵消這些負(fù)面影響的趨勢(shì),比如數(shù)字支付爆發(fā)、凈新增活躍用戶暴增。
因此,在此次危機(jī)期間,我們?cè)谧龊芏嗟氖虑閬?lái)提供幫助。我們也說(shuō)過(guò),不會(huì)因?yàn)樾鹿诓《疽咔槎夤腿魏我幻麊T工。我認(rèn)為,如果你把員工放在首位,把客戶放在首位,沒(méi)有人會(huì)忘記這一點(diǎn),到疫情結(jié)束時(shí),你就會(huì)處于一個(gè)非常有利的位置,因?yàn)轫樉硶r(shí)人們會(huì)一直為你效勞。在逆境時(shí)獲得過(guò)的幫助,人們會(huì)銘記于心。
我每天都會(huì)通過(guò)視頻電話會(huì)見(jiàn)我的團(tuán)隊(duì),我告訴他們一點(diǎn),這是我們的時(shí)刻,這是我們挺身而出、伸出援手的時(shí)刻。(財(cái)富中文網(wǎng))
譯者:萬(wàn)志文
今年4月初,雖然身在加州的家中,PayPal首席執(zhí)行官丹·舒爾曼卻身處兩個(gè)抗擊新冠病毒疫情的戰(zhàn)場(chǎng)。一方面,他要與美國(guó)財(cái)政部密切合作,設(shè)法通過(guò)PayPal來(lái)幫助政府將經(jīng)濟(jì)救助貸款發(fā)放給小企業(yè),將現(xiàn)金補(bǔ)助直接電子轉(zhuǎn)賬給民眾。另一方面,他要帶領(lǐng)他的全球員工應(yīng)對(duì)旗下數(shù)字支付服務(wù)(PayPal以及移動(dòng)應(yīng)用Venmo)需求的“井噴”。舒爾曼認(rèn)為,這一趨勢(shì)的出現(xiàn),完全是因?yàn)橐咔槠仁谷藗儾坏貌痪蛹腋綦x,不得不在線遠(yuǎn)程處理日常的生活和工作。
在接受《財(cái)富》雜志采訪期間,舒爾曼具體解釋了新冠病毒疫情如何不僅僅刺激在線支付的增長(zhǎng),還催生一些前所未見(jiàn)的財(cái)務(wù)行為——他認(rèn)為其中的一些趨勢(shì)甚至?xí)掷m(xù)到疫情消退以后?!拔覀儾粫?huì)倒退回過(guò)去那樣了?!彼f(shuō)道,“我們不會(huì)像以前那樣頻繁使用現(xiàn)金了?!?/p>
以下是采訪的內(nèi)容(因篇幅和清晰度而有所刪改)。
《財(cái)富》:我希望你能給我們說(shuō)一下現(xiàn)在的情況。我們面臨著前所未有的局面,很多經(jīng)濟(jì)部門(mén)都已經(jīng)陷入停滯。我們關(guān)心的一點(diǎn)是,這如何影響到金融系統(tǒng),美國(guó)人在如何處理他們的財(cái)務(wù)事宜。
丹·舒爾曼:新冠病毒的影響非常大,人們都不得不居家隔離,都不出門(mén)。這正在改變我們所有人的工作方式,改變我們所有人的生活方式。所以你可以看到,所有數(shù)字產(chǎn)品的使用都增長(zhǎng)了。我是Verizon的董事會(huì)成員,我們看到無(wú)線服務(wù)和互聯(lián)網(wǎng)的使用均呈現(xiàn)大幅增長(zhǎng)。與此同時(shí),人們也在以一些我們從未想象過(guò)的方式使用數(shù)字支付服務(wù)。不僅數(shù)字支付的使用有了巨大的增長(zhǎng),人們使用它們的方式也在發(fā)生改變。
你看到的增長(zhǎng)案例有哪些?
過(guò)去幾周,注冊(cè)PayPal或Venmo的新客戶數(shù)量急劇增加,有的時(shí)段甚至翻倍增加。總的來(lái)看,我們發(fā)現(xiàn)人們出現(xiàn)了不同的使用模式——周末在線時(shí)間多很多。我們看到,食品雜貨、電子產(chǎn)品、家居、園藝等垂直品類的購(gòu)買量多了很多。游戲消費(fèi)更是呈現(xiàn)爆炸式增長(zhǎng)。
但真正讓我感興趣的是,同時(shí)也是我們從未見(jiàn)過(guò)的是,對(duì)有需要的人的自發(fā)捐錢(qián)活動(dòng)顯著增多。有的是捐給朋友,有的是捐給陌生人,通過(guò)像Venmo或者PayPal這樣的點(diǎn)對(duì)點(diǎn)網(wǎng)絡(luò)來(lái)捐。這類行為猛然增多。我們目前在推特上展開(kāi)一項(xiàng)主題為#Venmoitforward的捐助激勵(lì)活動(dòng),一旦看到有人隨手做了件好事,我們就會(huì)給他們的Venmo賬戶存入20美元,并鼓勵(lì)他們繼續(xù)多做好事。我看到,人們真的在踴躍捐錢(qián)給在抗疫前線為我們的日常生活默默奉獻(xiàn)的英雄,不管是雜貨店或藥店的收銀員、急救人員,還是醫(yī)護(hù)人員。這些捐贈(zèng)的金額達(dá)到數(shù)千萬(wàn)美元。
有趣的是,在Venmo上,人們會(huì)用表情符號(hào)來(lái)表示他們想要花錢(qián)買什么東西。在我們的平臺(tái)上,以前最熱門(mén)的表情符號(hào)是比薩餅,諸如此類。而現(xiàn)在最流行的表情符號(hào)則是醫(yī)療口罩,使用這個(gè)表情符號(hào)的支付數(shù)量增長(zhǎng)了375%。我們還看到,許多名人明星開(kāi)始站出來(lái)向他們的粉絲伸出援手。泰勒·斯威夫特通過(guò)PayPal捐款給一些深陷經(jīng)濟(jì)困境的粉絲,愛(ài)莉安娜·格蘭德也在這么做。我認(rèn)為,這種趨勢(shì)并不僅僅是剛剛顯現(xiàn),還呈現(xiàn)出爆發(fā)態(tài)勢(shì)。
對(duì)比上一次危機(jī)的情況,比如10多年前的金融危機(jī),你覺(jué)得金融科技和支付技術(shù)幫助人們的方式不一樣了嗎?
我想你也看到過(guò)去10年里移動(dòng)領(lǐng)域的爆炸式發(fā)展吧。有了智能手機(jī),就像手掌上有了一家銀行支行,一切盡在你的操控之中。但仔細(xì)想想,在這樣大家都居家隔離的時(shí)期,也有一些人沒(méi)有銀行賬戶——目前約有25%的美國(guó)人未被銀行服務(wù)覆蓋。他們可能沒(méi)有銀行賬戶。他們通常得跑到兌現(xiàn)支票的地方兌現(xiàn),但現(xiàn)在不能出門(mén)。不過(guò),他們可以直接在手機(jī)上操作,可以先給支票拍張照片,然后將照片存到像PayPal這樣的平臺(tái)上,又或者存入銀行賬戶。因此,我們看到PayPal核心服務(wù)和Venmo均呈現(xiàn)需求井噴。很多以前沒(méi)有PayPal或者Venmo賬戶的人,現(xiàn)在都需要用上這些服務(wù)了。所以,面對(duì)需求的井噴,我們正在努力讓人們能夠盡可能輕松地使用我們的服務(wù)。我想,如今技術(shù)的普及使用,正使得這些原來(lái)未被銀行服務(wù)覆蓋的人口成為數(shù)字經(jīng)濟(jì)的一部分。
你們一直在與財(cái)政部合作,研究PayPal如何能夠幫助政府向美國(guó)民眾和小企業(yè)發(fā)放經(jīng)濟(jì)救助金。(注:此次采訪結(jié)束后,美國(guó)國(guó)稅局讓具備領(lǐng)取救助金資格的人可以選擇通過(guò)直接電子轉(zhuǎn)賬來(lái)收款,包括轉(zhuǎn)賬到PayPal或者Venmo賬戶。)
確保那些支票落到最需要的人群手中,正是我們目前與政府一起探討的一件事。我們有很多客戶不一定有銀行賬戶,但有PayPal或Venmo賬戶。我們需要確保有強(qiáng)大的身份驗(yàn)證技術(shù),來(lái)保證那些支票落到正確的人的手中,這正是我們引以為豪的地方。
像那樣與政府共事,對(duì)你們來(lái)說(shuō)陌生嗎?
我們其實(shí)與多個(gè)不同的政府部門(mén)共事,無(wú)論是州政府,還是世界各地的市政部門(mén),我們跟他們一起處理人們的各種日常事務(wù),比如繳稅、退稅、交停車費(fèi)、交水電費(fèi)等等。但當(dāng)下與美國(guó)聯(lián)邦政府所做的事情規(guī)模之大,前所未見(jiàn)。給政府做這樣的事情并不容易。但如何來(lái)做,如何找到最好的辦法來(lái)盡快完成這樣的事情,我覺(jué)得解決這些問(wèn)題的過(guò)程還是會(huì)逐漸催生出一個(gè)長(zhǎng)期性的解決方案。對(duì)于PayPal來(lái)說(shuō),這顯然不是什么賺錢(qián)的項(xiàng)目。這是惠民項(xiàng)目,是理所應(yīng)當(dāng)要做的事情,對(duì)于所有的數(shù)字平臺(tái)來(lái)說(shuō)都是如此。
我們已經(jīng)有一部分客戶把他們的退稅直接退到我們的平臺(tái)上。那些客戶也將能夠直接獲得政府的救助支票。但這類事情大部分都不是新鮮事,它們只是規(guī)模上沒(méi)有達(dá)到現(xiàn)在的程度而已。
過(guò)去幾周,我們聽(tīng)到了很多負(fù)面的消息和趨勢(shì)。對(duì)于你提到的“需求激增”,你覺(jué)得它會(huì)帶來(lái)什么正面的影響嗎?
我的確認(rèn)為,數(shù)字支付的新時(shí)代正在到來(lái),我們不會(huì)倒退回過(guò)去那樣了。我們不會(huì)再頻繁使用現(xiàn)金了。我想,未來(lái)大家都會(huì)非常注重衛(wèi)生問(wèn)題。我想,商店內(nèi)二維碼的使用正在增加,未來(lái)也將持續(xù)增加。我們?cè)绞遣饺霐?shù)字經(jīng)濟(jì),它就越普及。我們需要確保這一點(diǎn)能夠發(fā)生,因?yàn)槲掖_實(shí)認(rèn)為數(shù)字化支付更節(jié)省時(shí)間——你不必到支票兌現(xiàn)處排隊(duì)兌現(xiàn),也不必排隊(duì)支付各類賬單。另外,數(shù)字化支付能大幅節(jié)省成本。有時(shí)候,兌現(xiàn)支票的手續(xù)費(fèi)達(dá)到2%到5%,支付賬單也要收取手續(xù)費(fèi)。如果是通過(guò)電子方式來(lái)做這些,那些最需要省錢(qián)的人就能省下一大筆錢(qián)。因此,我希望,這會(huì)成為人們改變資金的管理轉(zhuǎn)移方式的一個(gè)轉(zhuǎn)折點(diǎn),會(huì)成為他們從線下轉(zhuǎn)向數(shù)字化的一個(gè)轉(zhuǎn)折點(diǎn),因?yàn)槲矣X(jué)得這真的能夠給那些最需要的人帶來(lái)很多實(shí)在的好處,也可以給我們的經(jīng)濟(jì)和社會(huì)帶來(lái)很多實(shí)在的好處。
聽(tīng)起來(lái)你看到了許多有利于PayPal的商業(yè)趨勢(shì),與此同時(shí)我們也聽(tīng)到了許多商業(yè)界前景慘淡方面的報(bào)道。你認(rèn)為PayPal是否會(huì)逆勢(shì)發(fā)展呢?是否有望在大家都在苦苦應(yīng)對(duì)疫情之時(shí)取得非??捎^的第一季度業(yè)績(jī)呢?
我認(rèn)為,得益于當(dāng)下所有的這些趨勢(shì),疫情結(jié)束之后,我們公司有機(jī)會(huì)變得比疫情開(kāi)始時(shí)強(qiáng)大很多。但跟所有其它的公司一樣,我們也受到了疫情的影響。我們的客戶也是如此。我們的客戶包括眾多的旅行公司、票務(wù)公司和會(huì)務(wù)服務(wù)公司,所以我們也無(wú)法免受當(dāng)下的一些趨勢(shì)的影響。但我們非常幸運(yùn),當(dāng)下也有很多幫助我們抵消這些負(fù)面影響的趨勢(shì),比如數(shù)字支付爆發(fā)、凈新增活躍用戶暴增。
因此,在此次危機(jī)期間,我們?cè)谧龊芏嗟氖虑閬?lái)提供幫助。我們也說(shuō)過(guò),不會(huì)因?yàn)樾鹿诓《疽咔槎夤腿魏我幻麊T工。我認(rèn)為,如果你把員工放在首位,把客戶放在首位,沒(méi)有人會(huì)忘記這一點(diǎn),到疫情結(jié)束時(shí),你就會(huì)處于一個(gè)非常有利的位置,因?yàn)轫樉硶r(shí)人們會(huì)一直為你效勞。在逆境時(shí)獲得過(guò)的幫助,人們會(huì)銘記于心。
我每天都會(huì)通過(guò)視頻電話會(huì)見(jiàn)我的團(tuán)隊(duì),我告訴他們一點(diǎn),這是我們的時(shí)刻,這是我們挺身而出、伸出援手的時(shí)刻。(財(cái)富中文網(wǎng))
譯者:萬(wàn)志文
In early April, Dan Schulman, the CEO of PayPal, was at home in California, waging his own sort of coronavirus battle on two fronts: On the one hand, he was working closely with the Treasury Department on a way for PayPal to help distribute stimulus funds via loans to small businesses as well as direct electronic payments to individuals. On the other hand, he was guiding his global workforce through a "tremendous surge" in demand for his company's digital payment services (PayPal as well as Venmo, a mobile app), a trend Schulman attributes directly to the way the pandemic has forced people to live their lives remotely and online.
In a Q&A with Fortune, Schulman explains how the coronavirus has spurred not just increases in online payments, but new financial behavior entirely—and Schulman thinks some of those trends will persist even after the virus subsides. "We’re not going to go backwards to what was," he says. "We’re not going to be using cash nearly as much." Read on for the full interview, which has been edited for length and clarity.
Fortune: I was hoping you could set the scene a bit. We have this unprecedented situation, much of the economy has ground to a standstill. One thing we’ve been intrigued by is how that’s affecting the financial system, and how Americans are interacting with their finances.
DS: The impacts of the virus are profound, people are sheltering at home, they’re not going out. And that’s changing the way that all of us work, and the way all of us live. So you’re seeing that with increased use of all things digital. I’m on the board of Verizon, and we’re seeing a tremendous increase in the use of wireless services and the use of the Internet in general. And along with that, people are using digital payments in ways that we really never imagined before. Not only is there a tremendous increase in the use of digital payments, but the way people are using them are also changing.
What are some examples of the increases you’re seeing?
Over the last couple of weeks the number of new customers that have signed on to PayPal or Venmo has increased dramatically. I mean, in some cases doubling. And in general we’re seeing different usage patterns emerge—people are spending a lot more online on the weekend. We’re seeing a tremendous increase in shopping in verticals like groceries, electronics, home and gardening. Gaming is exploding.
But what really intrigues me, and what we’re seeing in ways that we never have seen before, is this increase in spontaneous giving to people who need the money. Sometimes from friends and sometimes from strangers, over these peer-to-peer networks like Venmo or PayPal. That has skyrocketed. And we are now doing a hashtag called #Venmoitforward, where if we see somebody doing a random act of kindness, we’re giving them $20 into their Venmo account, and we’re saying to them, do even more. What I’m seeing are people really stepping up to the everyday heroes that are out there right now—cashiers who are at grocery stores or pharmacies, first responders, nurses, doctors. These are tens of millions of dollars that are flowing in terms of giving.
One interesting thing is that on Venmo, people use emojis to signal what they’re sending money for. And it used to be that the top emojis for us are a pizza emoji, that kind of thing. The emoji that’s trending the most is the medical mask emoji—we’ve seen a 375% increase in payments using that emoji. We’re also seeing a number of different celebrities start to step in and help their fans. Taylor Swift is giving money through PayPal to her fans who most need it. Ariana Grande is doing that. And I think this is a trend that’s not just emerging, but is really exploding.
When you think of where things stood in the last crisis, so say 10 years ago, are fintech and payments technologies set up to help people in a different way now than they were back then?
Well I think you’ve seen an explosion in mobile over those last 10 years. And so when you have a smartphone, you have all of the power of a bank branch in the palm of your hands. And at the same time you’ve had an explosion in the capabilities of digital payments. And as you think about it, as we’re sheltering at home, you also have people who are unbanked—almost 25% of Americans are underserved right now. They may not have a bank account. Traditionally they would have had to go to a check-cashing checking location, and now they’re sheltering at home. But they can do that right from their mobile phone, they can take a picture of a check, deposit it onto a platform like a PayPal or a Venmo or deposit it into a bank account. So what we’re seeing is a tremendous surge, both in PayPal core and Venmo. Many populations that may not have had PayPal or Venmo [in the past] now need to avail themselves of that. And so we’re making it as easy as possible to handle the surge in demand. The use of technology now is enabling, I think, these previously underserved populations to become part of this digital economy.
You’ve been working with the Treasury Department on ways PayPal could help distribute government stimulus money to Americans as well as small businesses. [Note: after this interview, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service made it possible for people eligible for stimulus payments to elect to receive the money electronically via direct deposit, including into a PayPal or Venmo account if they choose.]
Making sure that those checks get to those populations that most need them is something that we’re working with the government on. We have a lot of customers who don’t necessarily have bank accounts, but do have accounts with PayPal or Venmo. We need to be sure that there’s strong authentication, which we pride ourselves on, to make sure that those checks are going to the right people.
How new would that be for you, in terms of working in that capacity with the government?
Well we work with the different parts of government, whether they be state governments or municipalities around the world, to do the everyday civic things that people do—pay taxes, get tax refunds, pay parking tickets, utilities, that kind of thing. But doing something at this scale with the federal government would be something unprecedented. It’s not easy to go do that for the government. How we do it, and the best way to get that done as rapidly as possible is still evolving toward what I would consider to be a long-term solution. This is clearly not a moneymaking effort on the behalf of PayPal. This is a civic effort, and the right thing to do, for all digital platforms.
A portion of our customer base has gotten their tax refunds directly onto our platform. And those that have done that will be able to also receive those disbursement checks directly as well. Most of these things are not brand new, they’re just not at the scale that is being contemplated right now.
We’re hearing a lot of bad news and negative trends over the past few weeks. But do you think, with the ‘surge in demand’ you mentioned, is there any positive effect that you see coming out of this?
I do think, as we’re seeing a new era of digital payments, that we’re not going to go backwards to what was. We’re not going to be using cash nearly as much. I think we’re all going to be aware of hygiene going forward. I think the use of QR codes in store is going to continue to increase, as we’re seeing it increase right now. And I think the more we can move into a digital economy, the more inclusive that can be. And we need to be sure that happens, because I do think digital forms of payments can be much more time-efficient—you don’t have to wait in line at a cash-checking location, you don’t have to wait in line to pay your bills. And number two, it can be done much less expensively. Sometimes it can cost 2% to 5% to cash a check, and then you’ve got to pay another fee to pay a bill. If you can do it electronically I think we can save a tremendous amount of money for those populations who most need that savings. And so I’m hopeful that this is a tipping point in the way people think about managing and moving money, from the physical into digital, because I think that can really drive a tremendous number of benefits to those who most need it, and to our economy and society.
It sounds like you’re seeing a lot of beneficial business trends for PayPal, and meanwhile we’re hearing a lot of bad stories about business. Is it possible, do you think, that PayPal will buck the trend, and potentially have a very positive first quarter of this year when we’ve been dealing with this pandemic?
I think PayPal has the opportunity, when we come out of the pandemic, to be a much stronger company than it was coming into it because of all of these trends. But like every company, we’re impacted by it. Our customers are impacted by it. We support a number of travel companies, and different ticketing companies and event companies, and so we’re not immune from some of the trends that are happening, but we’re very fortunate in that we have a number of countertrends that are happening—the explosion of digital payments, the explosion of net new active [users].
So we’re doing a number of things right now to be helpful in this time of crisis. We also said we’re not going to lay off any employees because of COVID-19. But I think if you put your employees first and you put your customers first, then nobody forgets that, and you come out of this in a really strong position, because you know, people are always there in good times for you. It’s when they’re there in more difficult times that people remember.
I meet every single day with my team on video calls like this, and one of the things I’m telling them is, this is our time. This is our time to step up, to help.