PayPal has seen growth in helping small businesses sell on marketplaces and their own sites, and iZettle will help it continue that trajectory, the companies say.

PayPal Holdings Inc. announced today it has acquired iZettle for $2.2 billion.

Founded in Stockholm in 2010, iZettle is a financial technology company that created a mini chip-card reader and software for mobile devices. The company works with small businesses in Europe and Latin America, providing payment tools and services.

“IZettle brings a suite of products and services that allows merchants to meet their customers where they are—online, in store or via mobile,” says Bill Ready, chief operating officer at PayPal. “[We] are excited to expand the ways we serve our small business customers.”

CEO and co-founder of iZettle Jacob de Geer will join PayPal and continue to lead iZettle. “We share PayPal’s strong belief in the power of small businesses. Together, we will be stronger and move even faster to help small businesses succeed in a world of giants,” he says.

PayPal split from eBay Inc. (No. 4 in the Internet Retailer 2018 Online Marketplaces) in 2015, but continues to be a payment option on the online marketplace until at least July 2023 before eBay gradually shifts its business to Adyen BV, a startup based in the Netherlands. The companies have been slowly unwinding from each other, according to the terms of a separation agreement.

EBay remains a significant source of business for PayPal. But PayPal says any loss of eBay business is offset by growth in helping small businesses sell on other marketplaces and their own sites. That business totaled $65 billion in yearly payments volume, which was growing at more than 40% per year, compared to eBay’s single-digit sales growth, PayPal told investors in April. In first three months of 2018, PayPal had revenue of $3.69 billion, higher than analysts’ projections for $3.59 billion.

162 retailers in the Internet Retailer Top 1000 use PayPal for payment processing.

 

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Bloomberg contributed to this report.

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