Square Exec: PayPal Is “Part of Problem”

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We’ve noticed great payments questions being asked over at popular Q&A site Quora before, but nothing before quite as juicy as this latest entry.

The question: “Has PayPal approached Square and discussed an acquisition yet?” Neither company responded officially, but one employee at Square didn’t hesitate to offer some very strong opinions of his own.

Steve DeWald, head of strategic planning and analysis for Square, not only denied that the two had ever talked about such an arrangement — he suggested that such a deal would not work, and that PayPal isn’t exactly the type of company Square is seeking to partner with.

“I don't think we would ever consider working with PayPal in any capacity,” DeWald said. “Our cultures are too different and fundamentally incompatible.”

He then added: “PayPal is a part of the problem.  They're just another card processor that doesn't care about their customers.  I think they did a good job at enabling online payments in the beginning, but they've since fallen short of their vision and stagnated. As Elon recently pointed out they haven't innovated in almost a decade.”

Within that latter paragraph, DeWald links to a story at Gawker Media’s Jezebel about PayPal’s service, and an Ecommerce Bytes story about PayPal’s lack of innovation. He closes by saying that to sell to PayPal now would be “like giving up.”

At the outset of his comments, DeWald clarifies that the opinions are his own, and not those of the company for which he works. The original response is here.