PayPal Holdings, Inc. is a financial technology business based in the United States that operates an online payments system in most countries that allow online money transfers. It functions as an electronic substitute for conventional paper-based methods including money orders and cheques. The business charges a fee for its services as a payment processor to numerous commercial users, including auction sites and online retailers.
Confinity, the company that founded PayPal in 1998, went public in an IPO in 2002. Later that year, it was acquired by eBay as a completely owned company, with a $1.5 billion valuation. 2015 saw eBay separate PayPal and return it to its owners, regaining its independence. According on sales, the company came in at number 143 on the Fortune 500 list of the biggest US corporations in 2022.