PayPal is an American company operating a worldwide online payment system that supports online money transfers and serves as an electronic alternative to traditional paper methods like checks and money orders. PayPal is one of the world’s largest Internet payment system companies.
Established in 1998, PayPal had its initial public offering in 2002, and became a wholly owned subsidiary of eBay later that year. In 2014, eBay announced plans to spin-off PayPal into an independent company. Today, PayPal has over 200 million users worldwide.