American Express Wants PayPal Market Share

by donhx

Posted: 13 years ago 17 replies

INTERNET MARKETING

I'm a satisfied PayPal user (since 2002), so I'm not going to blast them. But I think it is interesting to see that other big players want some of the money PayPal has been getting. Competition is always good. Here's the news about the new AmEx product called "Serve."

"It was only a matter of time: American Express has taken a full-out dive into the crowded and ambiguous space full of companies both big and small that are trying to figure out the future of consumer payment transactions. The company today announced Serve, a set of applications designed to let users make payments more easily online or with mobile phones via special accounts funded by credit cards, debit cards, or bank accounts. With this product, the company "aims to expand into new segments of the market that do not rely on traditional charge and credit cards to manage their day-to-day finances."

It's pretty obviously inspired by the decade-plus-long rise and success of PayPal (which has been owned by eBay since 2002), but Serve is also inflected with more recent trends in digital payments. The announcement comes just weeks after a report that Google was partnering with MasterCard and Citigroup on mobile transactions and when one of the hottest buzz terms in the mobile world is near-field communication, a technology that could make payment by cell phone much more widespread. Relatively young companies like Zong and Boku are striking deals in an attempt to make the mobile phone the centerpiece of personal finance."

Read more: American Express enters the 'payment 2.0' fray | The Social - CNET News

#american #express #market #paypal #share

spearce000 13 years ago

I believe VISA is starting something similar in the US soon.
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Adie

13 years ago

They can't beat PP. The foundation of paypal is ebay and if they don't have a company like ebay, they might get into difficulties competing PP..

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Mike Hill 13 years ago

Originally Posted by Adie

They can't beat PP. The foundation of paypal is ebay and if they don't have a company like ebay, they might get into difficulties competing PP..

I don't think they need an eBay type of platform at all. Over the last 10 years PayPal has closed a lot of accounts and also caused a lot of hardship and grief to a lot of seemingly innocent people. It's about time there is competition in this space and maybe it will reduce user fees etc.

PayPal is not a credit card company however when Visa and Mastercard get involved in this marketing space they will have a distinct advantage and that comes from their huge pool of existing customers.
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Kay King 13 years ago

The question will be whether these new companies entering the payment processing field have any desire to work with digital products. Chances are paypal will continue to dominate in that area for some time.

Physical product sales are increasing annually, and that's what is motivating the new entries. Plus it will provide cross promotion for the their brand of credit card as well.

The biggest complaint about paypal is the inability to easily reach someone by phone to fix a problem - these big players won't be any easier to reach or reason with.

kay
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- SgtBadass 13 years ago
  
  It's amazing how many people don't trust PayPal still, I still meet people who refuse to use it because they're afraid of having their babies stolen in the night or somecrap.
  
  This will be good for business if there's another player and it could eventually bring the price of transactions down.
  
  I'm surprised Amex are on it though, doesn't seem their bag at all. They must have some young up and coming whippersnapper on the R&D team or something.
  
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Dan C. Rinnert 13 years ago

Originally Posted by Adie

They can't beat PP. The foundation of paypal is ebay and if they don't have a company like ebay, they might get into difficulties competing PP..

I don't think eBay is the powerhouse it used to be.

Besides that, the services offered by the credit card companies will come with the backing of a recognizable brand, whether it's American Express or VISA or whatever.

There are still plenty of people that aren't familiar with PayPal, but they're familiar with American Express or VISA. So, when their credit card statements start coming with inserts about these new, easy ways to pay online, they're going to take notice.
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Rod Cortez 13 years ago

Originally Posted by Adie

They can't beat PP. The foundation of paypal is ebay and if they don't have a company like ebay, they might get into difficulties competing PP..

People used to say that about Google in regards to Yahoo!.

RoD
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Roaddog

13 years ago

Originally Posted by Adie

They can't beat PP. The foundation of paypal is ebay and if they don't have a company like ebay, they might get into difficulties competing PP..

That's not even close to true, you can still say Paypal to the average person and they'll look at you funny. Say Amex or Visa or Mastercard and they will know.
I kind of have to wonder what took them so long.

This comes under the, be careful what you wish for, because...

I owned a brick and mortar construction business (lol)
and dealt with the C.C. companies on both ends extensively, as a merchant and a customer.
Amex's merchant services were so far above and beyond the expense of the others, many people including me refused to use them.
Visa and Mastercard were a little better, but believe me, they made their money.

These companies have deep pockets and have been around a lot longer than Paypal and will have very little difficulty IMO of hiring people who know the net.

If I were you I would prepare for 10 page TOS and get the magnifying glass out.

Once these dogs get in the fray...you'll be longing for the day's of Paypal dominance.

Jim

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seasoned

13 years ago

Originally Posted by Roaddog

Amex's merchant services were so far above and beyond the expense of the others, many people including me refused to use them.
Visa and Mastercard were a little better, but believe me, they made their money.........

At one point, AMEX charged like 3-4 TIMES what visa and mastercard did. I heard that from SEVERAL vendors at the time. Like you, most didn't accept amex OR, if they did, they often charged more for it in some way.

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donhx 13 years ago

This action by AmEx does explain the change in the PayPal TOS a few months back. AmEx made all PayPal users agree not to use an AmEx card that could be swiped--that is, not in a bricks and motor stores, at a convention where you're selling things, and places like that.

So, you can't use the PayPal Virtual Terminal if the AmEx card holder is present, you need to have your own AmEx Merchant Account.

Looks like AmEx was positioning themselves back then. They saw the gravy PayPal was making, I guess, and decided to dive into that market.
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iAmNameLess

13 years ago

Originally Posted by seasoned

They STILL make it very difficult. If you have a merchant account that isn't related to paypal, you need a separate account for AMEX.

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Caleb Spilchen 13 years ago

It seems they are following the "exclusive suit" once again, which is to say, they are limiting their platform accessibility to the US Only, which kind of sucks for Internet Marketing, to be honest -

Since, you are looking at customers from all areas around the world.

That's just my personal opinion, cheers.

Caleb
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Dave Rodman Banned 13 years ago

If Google Checkout didn't really put a dent in Paypal's business, I have little confidence about other players.

Most of people on the WF seem to have a problem with Paypal. Maybe it's because of the digital products. But I have used Paypal and have had no problems.
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P.Sharma 13 years ago

When ebay's got PP's back, they don't even have to worry about God
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seasoned 13 years ago

I'm shocked to see them take so long. It would have been nice if visa, mastercard and/or amex did this LONG ago. Theer are like 3 levels from credit card to bank, and ****NONE**** has really tried to enter this market until many years after it started, and they haven't tried to really add to it or advertise it. You talk like paypal was first. They WEREN'T! Not by a LONG shot! Do you have ANY idea how much money the credit card industry left on the table? TONS!

And those other companies have made hundreds to possibly MILLIONS, per customer, just filling in the parts that the credit cards, processors, and banks MISSED! HECK, several years ago, INTUIT entered as one of the companies benefiting from that oversight.

Adie,

To add top what Rod said, PP started BEFORE EBAY owned them. You know how they got many customers? They BOUGHT them! They offered $20, IIRC, for EACH!

And if a company offered what paypal does, and made it all paypal compatible, they could put a dent in paypal's business. Even PAYPAL is not fully paypal compatible!

Steve
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Roy Carter 13 years ago

Interesting and good to at least see some kind of competition coming in to attack the stranglehold that Paypal has on the market. I agree with Caleb though. If they are limiting their platform accessibility to the US Only, that's not great, so it's to be hope that they will have the foresight to roll the service out worldwide eventually.

Guess we'll have to wait and hope for that to happen.
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Cash Money Hosting 13 years ago

With as many online marketers with paypal, I think amex has a shot. Im signing up now.
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American Express Wants PayPal Market Share

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