Silicon Valley-based PayPal is ramping up significantly in Asia, announcing plans to increase its regional headcount to 2,000 and inking new payment partnerships in China, Malaysia and Singapore.
The e-commerce payment provider will add 1,000 new staff to its Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Singapore and Taiwan operations by the end of this year. 100 of those hires will be at PayPal's new international headquarters in Singapore, which is responsible for all of the company's business outside the US.
"While PayPal's growth in Asia-Pacific to date has largely been driven by our cross-border business, we fully expect the domestic business in many of our Asian markets to explode in the coming years," said Farhad Irani, vice-president of PayPal Asia-Pacific, in a statement. "Our success in the region will continue to rely on partnering with merchants, financial services companies and local governments to deliver the right services for our customers."
In 2009, the payment provider processed $6 billion worth of payments in Asia-Pacific, up 38% from a year earlier.
New partnerships will help drive PayPal's Asian growth. The provider announced an agreement with China UnionPay, the country's bankcard association, that will allow the 2.1 billion holders of UnionPay cards to use PayPal for online payments by the third quarter.
"After years of being the export hub for the world, today marks the day that China is open for business as an import e-commerce market," said Scott Thompson, president of PayPal, in a statement. "PayPal's partnership with China UnionPay removes an important friction point that exists across borders, and we are thrilled to eliminate the payments barrier so merchants can welcome millions of new Chinese customers to their sites."
There were more than 7 billion China UnionPay card inter-bank transactions worth $1.1 trillion last year.
Further south, the payment enabler entered into a three-pronged relationship with Malaysia's DiGi Telecommunications, mySimplifieds online classified portal and the domestic iPay88 payment provider to allow Malaysian online retailers to accept payments through mySimplifieds' new online Storefront feature.
"The agreement with these two well-known online payment providers is an important step for mySimplifieds to make it easier for Malaysians to buy and sell online," said Noelle Tan, DiGi's head of strategy and new business, in a statement. "We believe now is the ideal time to offer this service with the increasing acceptance of online payment methods among the masses."
Last month, PayPal signed a similar partnership with Taiwantrade that allows local manufacturers to receive online payment for samples.
An agreement with DBS in Singapore to make PayPal available for online purchases by its customers was also announced.
PayPal is a subsidiary of auction website eBay.
