eBay names Swiss start-up founder President of PayPal

David Marcus founded Zong in 2009 in Geneva. The company focused on mobile payments. In 2011 when it was sold to eBay Zong leveraged connections with more than 250 mobile network operators around the world, offering localized, secure and easy-to-use payments for digital goods and services in 21 languages and 45 countries.

After the takeover Zong was integrated into PayPal. David Marcus was named Vice President of Mobile for PayPal. On Friday eBay announced that Marcus has been named President of PayPal. Reporting to eBay Inc. President and eBay CEO John Donahoe, Marcus succeeds Scott Thompson, who left the company in January.

"David is the right leader for PayPal," Donahoe said. "He is a successful technology entrepreneur with a passion for great products that engage and delight customers. David leads with a founder's perspective. He will bring start-up energy to PayPal's unmatched global reach and digital payments capabilities. And he will sharpen PayPal’s focus on accelerating product innovation, driving consumer engagement and making paying anytime, anywhere through your digital wallet a safe, easy and convenient experience. David's appointment signals our deep commitment at PayPal, and across eBay Inc., to be a leading technology-driven and customer-focused product innovation company."

As Vice President of Mobile for PayPal, Marcus has helped lead strong mobile payments volume growth and innovation, including PayPal Here. The new global service includes a free app and encrypted thumb-sized card reader, which turns any iPhone, and soon Android smartphone, into a comprehensive mobile payments solution. With PayPal Here, small businesses, service providers and casual sellers can accept debit and credit cards, checks and PayPal, or send invoices using one simple integrated product.

“Shopping is fun, but paying is not,” Marcus said. “PayPal has an incredible opportunity to make the way people pay simple, easy, and safe – everywhere, and at scale. We’re off to a great start in 2012 with breakthrough products that will truly change the way everyone shops and pays. I’m honored and excited to be asked to lead this unique business and help make the digital wallet an amazing experience for merchants and consumers worldwide.”

For 14 years, PayPal has been revolutionizing the payments industry – first with online payments in 1998 and then with mobile payments in 2006. In 2011, PayPal processed $118 billion in payments from over 100 million users in 190 countries, including $4 billion in mobile payment volume. PayPal is now extending its online and mobile capabilities offline, creating innovative in store payments solutions for retailers and consumers. Home Depot recently rolled out PayPal to all of its nearly 2,000 stores nationwide, and PayPal is implementing its point of sale innovations with other national retailers this year.