PayPal (NASDAQ: PYPL) announced on Thursday it has provided more than $10 billion in funding through more than 650,000 loans to more than 225,000 small businesses around the world since providing access to its first loan more than five years ago. PayPal reported that its financing programs are available in the US, UK, Australia, Germany, and Mexico (available through its partner Konfio).
“For more than 20 years, PayPal has been helping small business owners achieve their dreams. In the beginning, we provided marketplace sellers with a secure way to accept electronic payments from buyers. In 2013, we started pursuing another path: providing our small business owners with much needed access to capital in order to grow. So, in response, we launched PayPal Working Capital as a way to bring our merchants the financing they so desperately needed.”
PayPal also reported that since it started offering PayPal Working Capital, it has been able to better understand how businesses are impacted by the funds and how they are using the money. The company revealed:
“We know that PayPal Working Capital recipients who experienced an increase in revenue saw an average of 24% growth after accepting the funds and, of the businesses that grew, 82% experienced it in their first three months. Additionally, when we asked borrowers who grew for their top four uses of the money, 58% said they purchased inventory, 30% said they used it to purchase equipment, 28% said they invested in marketing, and 23% said they used the money to help manage cashflow.”
PayPal went on to add for PayPal Business Loans, it saw similar results: borrowers who saw an increase in sales had average growth of 21%, and 88% reported seeing a revenue boost in the first three months after accepting the loan. Also, borrowers used the money to help manage cash-flow (44%), purchase inventory (37%) and invest in marketing (31%).