As part of modernizing its marketplace and creating a more streamlined experience for customers, eBay is expanding its management of payments to the United Kingdom. As part of the rollout this summer, the company will offer buyers flexibility and choice in payment methods, and give sellers an easier way to manage their businesses.
The U.K. is the third market to offer eBay’s new payments experience, after the U.S. and Germany.
“We’re creating a modern managed marketplace. Taking control of the payments process on our platform is a key component of our strategy to enhance the eBay experience by breaking down barriers and removing complexities for our customers,” said VP of Global Payments Alyssa Cutright. “We’ve seen great success in the U.S. and Germany and we’re thrilled to expand to the U.K.”
“By starting to manage payments in the U.K. this year, we’re taking another step to deliver improvements for our customers,” said VP of eBay U.K. Rob Hattrell. “We know that sellers and buyers expect smooth and seamless transactions, and this new payments experience is designed to offer exactly that. In the coming months, we will make the transition as smooth as possible for sellers so they can take advantage of this important update quickly.”
eBay plans to offer buyers in the U.K. a variety of payment options, including credit card, Google Pay and PayPal. Apple Pay will also be available as a payment option on iPhone and iPad.
eBay started managing payments on its platform in the U.S. with a select group of sellers in September 2018, and expanded the experience to Germany in September 2019. The rollout has been paced by the terms of the Operating Agreement with PayPal, which expires in the second half of this year.
The company continues to make tremendous progress with its managed payments, having processed more than $2 billion in GMV for almost 25,000 sellers, and saving sellers almost $10 million as of the end of Q4 2019. Later this year, the company will continue its global expansion and expects to have transitioned a majority of its U.K. business sellers by the end of 2020 and a majority of its marketplace customers in 2021.
About eBay
eBay Inc. (Nasdaq: EBAY) is a global commerce leader including the Marketplace and Classifieds platforms. Collectively, we connect millions of buyers and sellers around the world, empowering people and creating opportunity for all. Founded in 1995 in San Jose, California, eBay is one of the world’s largest and most vibrant marketplaces for discovering great value and unique selection.
Forward Looking Statements
This announcement contains forward-looking statements relating to, among other things, the future events and future performance of the company and reflect, among other things, eBay’s expectation regarding the anticipated benefits of the company’s initiative to intermediate payments on its Marketplace platform.
Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties which may cause actual results to differ materially from the statements made. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to: changes in political, business and economic conditions, any regional or general economic downturn or crisis and any conditions that affect ecommerce growth or cross-border trade; the timing and possible outcome of this initiative; the possibility that the initiative may be delayed or abandoned; and the possibility that it may take the company longer than expected to fully realize any anticipated benefits of the initiative, and those benefits may ultimately be smaller than anticipated or may not be realized at all.
More information about factors that could affect the company's operating results is included under the captions “Risk Factors” and “Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in the company's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, copies of which may be obtained by visiting the company's Investor Relations website at https://investors.ebayinc.com or the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. All information in this release is as of February 25, 2020. Undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements in this press release, which are based on information available to the company on the date hereof. The company assumes no obligation to update such statements.