PayPal’s General Manager of Consumer Group, Diego Scotti, asserts that the company is intensifying its focus on artificial intelligence (AI) and data-driven personalization. This strategic move aims to maintain its competitive edge in the evolving digital payments landscape. Speaking at the Viva Tech 2025 conference in Paris, Scotti emphasized, “AI is changing commerce as we speak.”
Scotti detailed how PayPal adapts to the era of AI agents and increasing competition, highlighting a recent collaboration with AI search engine Perplexity. Announced in May, this partnership positions PayPal as the embedded payment option for Perplexity’s new shopping features. Scotti explained, “We are going to become the enabler of their AI commerce through PayPal, because of the data that we have” on consumers.
When users input queries into Perplexity, they will receive not only answers but also product pages tailored to their individual profiles, based on PayPal’s consumer data. An AI agent will then facilitate the entire transaction. Scotti elaborated, “We’re not going to give you a bunch of links. We’re going to give you a nice list of recommendations of products that fit your profile…then you’re going to be able to shop for them right there on the agent.” This vision reflects PayPal’s broader goal of powering seamless, AI-driven transactions that operate silently in the background, continuously learning and adapting to consumer preferences.
Scotti acknowledged the dramatic shift in the payments landscape since PayPal pioneered online checkout 25 years ago. He noted the explosion of choices, from Apple Pay to various bank apps and FinTech wallets, which compels PayPal to actively earn consumer attention and loyalty with each transaction. “We need the consumer to make the choice every day…to use PayPal,” Scotti stated. As rivals enter PayPal’s digital payments domain, the company expands by integrating into physical store checkout systems and offering diverse perks like deferred payments and cryptocurrency options.
PayPal views banks, credit card companies, and digital payment platforms like Apple Pay as both competitors and partners, shaping its platform-agnostic strategy. Scotti highlighted PayPal’s extensive user base, calling it “the biggest installed app base in the world of any financial services company.”
Scotti identifies trust and data as critical pillars for the new era of digital commerce, especially as AI drives purchasing decisions. He believes PayPal holds a significant advantage in these areas, particularly in trust. He explained that PayPal possesses granular data, down to the SKU level, detailing individual purchases. This contrasts with banks or credit card networks, which might only know a customer visited a store and spent a certain amount. PayPal’s detailed insights enable smart receipts and highly personalized product recommendations.
Scotti also shared ambitious plans for Venmo, PayPal’s peer-to-peer payments brand, which has evolved into a social network for financial transactions among 100 million U.S. users aged 18 to 29. Looking ahead, PayPal aims to expand Venmo’s utility, allowing users to spend their Venmo balance in stores, online, or with crypto or credit cards. “We’re building this ecosystem that is very exciting. We are monetizing it. It’s a great driver of growth,” Scotti affirmed.
Scotti concluded that PayPal’s future success hinges on its ability to combine AI, consumer insights, and global infrastructure to redefine the digital wallet and marketing platform. He stated, “we’re going to do it again,” referring to PayPal’s pioneering role in digital payments a quarter-century ago.
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News Source: Pymnts.com
