Press Release: PayPal Submits Applications to Establish an Industrial Bank to Expand Access to Financial Services for U.S. Small Businesses
PayPalDEC 2025
PayPal Applies for Bank Charter
Will PayPal Bank strengthen the company, or fail to tackle its most significant challenges?
Above: A PayPal logo seen displayed on a smartphone in Poland on Dec. 4, 2025. Image credit: Mateusz Slodkowski/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images
The Spin
Narrative A
PayPal Bank promises to tackle the capital crisis strangling small businesses across America and strengthen the company’s position. A bank charter would enable PayPal to bring lending in-house — allowing the company to cut costs, offer more competitive business loans and reduce its dependence on third parties for capital.
Narrative B
PayPal's banking ambitions will not resolve its primary issue — the market share it continues to lose to Apple and Shop Pay in the mobile wallet sector. The industrial bank charter might cut third-party costs, but it does not address why consumers are abandoning PayPal's checkout experience for more integrated competitors.
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© 2026 Improve the News Foundation. All rights reserved.Version 6.18.0
© 2026 Improve the News Foundation.
All rights reserved.
Version 6.18.0