PayPal shares jump on eBay split – company valued at $50bn

PayPal shares are up 5% in its first day as a separate and publicly traded company.

The payments system company officially split with eBay on Friday, 10 months after they

PayPal free to work with eBay rivals

announced that they were going their separate ways.

PayPal processed $235 billion in total payment volume last year and logged revenue of about $8 billion. It plans to grow market share in mobile and online payments as well as expanding in areas like in-store payments.

Trading on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange under the stock ticker “PYPL” shares jumped $2.14 to $40.40 on Monday.

“PayPal is the gorilla among independent digital payment service providers with more than 160 million active accounts, global scale and brand recognition,” J.P. Morgan analysts said.

PayPal is also looking to compete with Western Union and other money transfer companies. CEO Dan Shulman said he was looking to use Paypal’s size to offer affordable financial services widely.

“It’s clear that the potential for mobile technology to transform money extends beyond commerce. The vast majority of the world’s 7 billion people lack access to even basic financial services,” Schulman said.