PayPal Buys Simility In Second Buy This Week

PayPal

PayPal announced Thursday (June 21) that, following on the heels of its acquisition of Hyperwallet earlier this week, it is acquiring Simility, which is a fraud prevention and risk management platform. In a company blog post, PayPal said that — like with the acquisition of Hyperwallet and the others previously announced during the past 12 months — it is part of an effort to enhance and strengthen the suite of services it can provide so it can provide one-stop solutions for merchants.  

In the blog post, PayPal said, “Digital commerce has exploded, and fraudsters have taken note, adapting and developing new methods to carry out their crimes. PayPal has been at the forefront of developing innovative fraud prevention and risk management solutions for nearly 20 years, and is uniquely positioned to help merchants fight this threat.”

According to the company, PayPal invested in Simility last year because it thought the company had a “unique” approach that goes beyond legacy fraud and risk solutions. Simility puts control in the merchants’ hands so that they can better protect customer on mobile. PayPal said that following the close of the deal, merchants on the PayPal platform will gain access to fraud tools that can be customized for their business through the existing management dashboard.

“These machine learning-powered tools, which adapt and evolve with each transaction, will enhance payment experiences for merchants and their customers, and help to further democratize access to PayPal’s existing world-class risk and fraud tools.,” PayPal said.

On Tuesday (June 19), PayPal said it will buy payments payout platform Hyperwallet for $400 million in cash. The deal will give PayPal greater strength in eCommerce and online marketplaces. Marketplace sales accounted for 50 percent of all online sales in 2017, according to an estimate provided by PayPal.

Bill Ready, chief operating officer at PayPal, said, “eCommerce platforms and marketplaces are leveling the retail playing field by connecting buyers who have specific needs with groups of sellers that can meet them. Merchants and service providers who use these platforms want quick, efficient, flexible and secure access to their earnings, whenever and wherever they need them. By acquiring Hyperwallet, we will strengthen our ability to provide an integrated end-to-end solution to help eCommerce platforms and marketplaces — however large or small — leverage world-class payout capabilities in over 200 markets.”