pal

Despite last week's rumors of layoffs looming at PayPal, eBay reported much better-than-expected third-quarter earnings today after the bell.

The e-commerce giant reported a third-quarter net income of $597 million, or 45 cents a share (statement). Non-GAAP earnings were 55 cents a share on a revenue of $3.4 billion -- up 15 percent from the same time last year.

Wall Street was looking for eBay to report third-quarter earnings of 42 cents a share on revenue of $2.63 billion.

However, eBay shares were initially down -- though not by much -- in after-hours trading by approximately 3.9 percent following Q3 results. … Read more

PayPal is cutting 3 percent of its workforce, or from 300 to 400 jobs, as new President David Marcus looks to streamline operations and trim costs, according to reports.

Bloomberg cited an unnamed source in reporting the news, and Reuters followed with its own report later in the day, also citing an anonymous source.

PayPal's product and technology groups would be hardest hit by the cuts, which will occur in the next few weeks, Bloomberg said. PayPal currently employs about 13,000 people.

The company is facing competition in the online-payments market from startups like Stripe and WePay. It'… Read more

Merchants or community managers that sell goods or accept donations through larger platforms like Shopify, Reddit, or Skillshare can now quickly start taking credit cards, thanks to a new system from the online payments company Stripe.

Called Stripe Connect, the new system is designed to make it easy for any online shop or group to process credit-card payments from donors or customers.

At the same time, Stripe Connect is also giving Stripe partners a way take advantage of analytics software, CRM systems, and other financial packages in order to see real-time account data. Indeed, the company is hoping that developers … Read more

PayPal has had its share of public black eyes but now has its eye on improving its reputation.

After ordering a violin smashed earlier this year and freezing an account designed to let people donate toys to underprivileged children, the payment processor appears to be trying to put a more human face on its corporate image.

The fresh feeling of good will came from David Marcus, PayPal's newly appointed president, and delivered to a frustrated customer who had tried for months to free $64,000 locked up in a PayPal account. It all started in May, when Andy McMillan, … Read more

Wednesday's tech news roundup is at full throttle:

T-Mobile will launch a truly unlimited data plan beginning Sept. 5. No caps or throttling. Sprint also offers this, but T-Mobile is competing with pricing. Sprint's starting price for unlimited data is $80 a month, and users are limited to 450 voice minutes. T-Mobile also starts it at $80 a month, but throws in 500 minutes. The larger difference is when you want both unlimited data and unlimited talk; Sprint charges $110, T-Mobile charges $90 a month. Of course, there's also smartphone choice and service to consider. T-Mobile will … Read more

PayPal and Discover said today that they will partner to bring PayPal's digital wallet and payment services to millions of merchants in the Discover network.

Under the partnership, merchants in the Discover payment network will be able to accept PayPal payments. PayPal said that consumers would be able to take advantage of its services at these merchants.

PayPal, which has long handled online transactions, has attempted to breach the physical world with several mobile payment initiatives. From exploring the use of physical cards to the use of tap-and-go stickers, and even paying with smartphones, the company wants to be … Read more

This Wednesday's top stories are sharing the love of data (but not the love of sharing data):

It began with Verizon, and now AT&T has joined the data-sharing movement. Starting in August, new AT&T customers will be signing up for "Mobile Share" plans. All have unlimited voice and text, but you pick how much data you need, and up to 10 devices can share from that bucket of data. Generally speaking, AT&T and Verizon's plan prices are pretty similar in the lower data tiers. Depending on your needs, one can … Read more

PayPal announced today it has agreed to acquire Card.io, a company whose technology allows credit card information to be captured by a smartphone's camera.

Terms of the deal were not announced.

The acquisition is an apparent move to bolster its position against mobile-payments upstart Square, which revealed in March that it was processing $4 billion a year in payments. Square, which recently announced plans for international expansion, also offers an accessory that connects to mobile devices and lets people swipe their cards to pay for purchases.

The San Francisco-based startup attracted PayPal's interest when the two companies … Read more

Today we're rocking out in the cloud to take our minds off our mobile bills:

Verizon has completely restructured nearly all of its phone plans with something called a Share Everything Plan. The plans will give you unlimited text and unlimited voice. As for data, you have to pay for how much data you want a month. Then you have to pay another fee for each device that will use that pool of data.

Verizon is encouraging you to have multiple devices that can all share from the same plan, but it can make your bill more expensive if you're an individual. … Read more