How much does PayPal make per transaction?

PayPal makes a small percentage on most transactions, as well as a flat fee. In 2024, PayPal’s revenue was equal to about 0.17% of its transaction volume, which means that it brought in $1.70 in fees for every $1,000 that flowed through its platform.

Is PayPal profitable?

Yes, PayPal is a highly profitable business. In 2024, PayPal generated a total of about $31.8 billion in revenue and produced $4.15 billion in generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) net income. The company expects to produce between $6 billion and $7 billion in free cash flow in 2025.

Can I invest in PayPal?

Yes, PayPal is a publicly traded company. It is listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange under ticker symbol PYPL. You can buy shares through whatever brokerage platform you use to invest in stocks.

PayPal Tap to Pay is a service that allows businesses to accept payments from contactless payment cards or a handheld device with a digital wallet (like a smartphone). The customer simply taps their payment method directly on a tablet or smartphone connected to the business owner’s PayPal account that has the PayPal Point of Sale app.

How many employees does PayPal have?

As of Dec. 31, 2024, PayPal had 24,400 employees around the world. The bulk of them (88%) are located in either the Americas or Asia-Pacific regions.

How Does PayPal Make Money?

How PayPal Makes Money

Key Points

PayPal processed $1.7 trillion worth of payment volume in 2024, generating $31.8 billion in revenue.
CEO Alex Chriss, a former Intuit executive, was hired as CEO in the wake of the pandemic.
PayPal's adjusted EPS is forecast to grow by 11% to 14% by 2025.

PayPal (PYPL -0.91%) is one of the largest payment processing companies in the world, with over $1.7 trillion in annualized payment volume. Most Americans know PayPal as a popular way to pay for online purchases, and many people also use PayPal’s Venmo app to send and receive money from friends and family.

What’s less obvious is how PayPal actually makes money behind the scenes. Below, we break down what the company does, how its business model works, and how much it has earned in recent years, giving you the context you need to decide whether investing in PayPal makes sense for you.

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Revenue

Revenue is a business’s gross income or the amount of money it brings in from regular operations before costs are considered.

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PayPal’s other revenue

The other side of PayPal’s revenue stream is called "revenues from other value-added services." Essentially, this is a somewhat broad category that includes anything that isn’t some form of transaction fee. Just to name the major examples, this includes:

Referral fees.
Subscription fees.
Partnership revenue.
Interest income (on loans).
Interest income (on balances held in customer accounts).

These and other forms of non-transaction-fee revenue only make up about 9% of PayPal’s total revenue.

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Since Chriss took over, there have been several significant developments, in addition to a bunch of key executive hires:

PayPal launched a new advertising platform in October 2024. The idea is that the company’s relationships with merchants, as well as spending data from millions of customers, would create a big data advantage.
PayPal announced its Fastlane simplified guest checkout experience, designed to improve conversions, in August 2025.
PayPal announced PayPal Everywhere, which included a rewards debit card that can be used anywhere Mastercard is accepted, in September 2024.
PayPal’s management revealed its multi-year strategic roadmap for accelerating growth in February 2025. Among other things, it includes increased monetization of Venmo, leveraging AI features, and more.
PayPal started offering U.S. holders of its PayPal USD stablecoin the ability to earn rewards (like interest) in balances in April 2025.
PayPal rolled out Venmo Checkout and the Venmo Debit Card in June 2025.
PayPal announced the ability to send payments through personalized, one-time links in September 2025.

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How Does PayPal Make Money FAQ

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About the Author

Matt Frankel, CFP, is a contributing Motley Fool stock market analyst specializing in the real estate and financial sectors. Prior to The Motley Fool, Matt taught high school and college mathematics. He holds a bachelor’s degree in physics from the University of South Carolina, a master’s degree in mathematics from Nova Southeastern University, and a graduate certificate in financial planning from Florida State University. He won a SABEW award for coverage of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. He is also regularly interviewed by Cheddar, Globe St, The National Desk, and other TV networks and publications for his real estate, financial, stock market, and investing expertise.

TMFMattFrankel

@MattFrankelCFP

Matt Frankel, CFP has positions in PayPal and has the following options: long January 2027 $95 calls on PayPal and short January 2027 $135 calls on PayPal. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Intuit and PayPal. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: long January 2027 $42.50 calls on PayPal and short March 2026 $65 calls on PayPal. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

How PayPal Makes Money

Key Points

Revenue

PayPal’s other revenue

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How Does PayPal Make Money FAQ

How much does PayPal make per transaction?

Is PayPal profitable?

Can I invest in PayPal?

What is Tap to Pay?

How many employees does PayPal have?

What does PayPal do?

How does PayPal make money?

PayPal’s transaction revenue

PayPal’s other revenue

Related investing topics

FAQ

PayPal’s financials

Recent developments