Only recently did the company rebrand, dropping its former identity (AlertPay) for a new one. But already, the new Payza is comparing itself to PayPal when talking about the growth it hopes to achieve for its eCommerce platform.

“Payza is now in more countries than PayPal and deals in nearly as many local currencies,” said Alastair Graham, in a prepared statement released concurrently with his taking on the role of CEO.

But PayPal’s adoption numbers dwarf Payza’s: the latter claims 9 million consumer accounts, and roughly 75,000 merchant relationships. And then there’s remittances, another space in which Payza hopes to be active; in that case, too, Payza is dwarfed by a dominant incumbent, namely Western Union.

So how will Payza close the gap, assuming it’s even possible? On the one hand, Graham assures that the next 9 million consumers will be easier to obtain than the first 9 million were, and that the same will be true on the merchant side as well. But more broadly he argues that, as eCommerce grows, more room is being created for upstart companies like his to grab some market share without having to completely overthrow the industry’s current kings.

Only recently did the company rebrand, dropping its former identity (AlertPay) for a new one. But already, the new Payza is comparing itself to PayPal when talking about the growth it hopes to achieve for its eCommerce platform.

“Payza is now in more countries than PayPal and deals in nearly as many local currencies,” said Alastair Graham, in a prepared statement released concurrently with his taking on the role of CEO.

But PayPal’s adoption numbers dwarf Payza’s: the latter claims 9 million consumer accounts, and roughly 75,000 merchant relationships. And then there’s remittances, another space in which Payza hopes to be active; in that case, too, Payza is dwarfed by a dominant incumbent, namely Western Union.

So how will Payza close the gap, assuming it’s even possible? On the one hand, Graham assures that the next 9 million consumers will be easier to obtain than the first 9 million were, and that the same will be true on the merchant side as well. But more broadly he argues that, as eCommerce grows, more room is being created for upstart companies like his to grab some market share without having to completely overthrow the industry’s current kings.

Listen to the full audio interview with new Payza CEO Alastair Graham below.

Alastair Graham

Payza CEO

Payza provides a payment platform for e-commerce, corporate disbursements and remittances worldwide, as well as a highly secure e-wallet that provides businesses and consumers with solutions for sending and receiving payments worldwide.

Payza also provides merchants numerous tools and services including fraud screening, dispute resolution, currency exchange, global payouts and disbursement services. The company offers access to payment services in both traditional and emerging markets. It operates in 197 countries and 22 different currencies with over 9 million members, and 75,000 merchants.