What COVID-19 means for the future of commerce, capitalism and cash

Corey Hajim: Today, our guest
is Dan Schulman, CEO of PayPal.

When most of us think of PayPal,
we think of buying something online

or paying a friend back
for a drink using Venmo.

But PayPal has also become
a major financial services player,

often acting as an alternative
to a traditional bank.

During this pandemic,

PayPal has supported small businesses
around the world by providing loans,

waiving fees,

and increasing cashback programs.

It has also worked with the US Government

on its Paycheck Protection Program,

as well as distributing stimulus checks.

It has enabled an outpouring
of generosity online as well.

The trend towards digital payments,

or what we might now want
to think of as contactless payments,

has massively accelerated,

and it's changing forever
how we think about commerce.

So I'm really excited
to have Dan here with us.

Thank you so much, Dan.

Dan Schulman: Thanks for having me, Corey.
Pleasure to be here with you.

CH: Glad to see you.

So let's dive right in.

Within a few months
of this pandemic's arrival,

more than 30 million people
have filed for unemployment

in the United States alone.

These are certainly unusual circumstances,

but it seems clear we were running
very close to the edge,

and now so many businesses
and their employees

are facing huge financial challenges.

How worried are you?

DS: Well, I think the crisis
has exposed three things.

Obviously, it's a health crisis

for so many people.

Second thing is that health crisis

has ricocheted,

and the world is now
in an economic crisis.

And the third crisis
that we don't talk so much about,

but I think is impacting

the way that we're going
to live our lives going forward,

is this is a psychological crisis as well.

People are reexamining
their place in the world,

what's happening in the world,

how they're going to live their lives,

both in the pandemic and post-pandemic,

and so I think this is something
that each of those phases

will need to be dealt with.

But you said this,

and I completely agree with you:

there was an economic crisis happening

well before the pandemic exposed it.

It's kind of like
the water level came down

and exposed what was already there.

You had, for instance, in the US,

185 million adults in the US

struggling to make ends meet
at the end of the month.

You have over 70 million adults that are
really outside of the financial system,

spending over 140 billion dollars
on high interest rates,

unnecessary fees, and struggling as well.

And so I think
what this has really done --

because you can't ignore 20,
25 percent unemployment rates --

it's exposed this crisis

and forced a lot of people

into maybe actions
that they might not have taken

without this crisis happening.

CH: Yeah, I think that's right.

There are so many challenges
and so many opportunities,

and I think you've spoken
of this opportunity

of digital transactions
being helpful to people,

and obviously the trend, as you've said,

has massive accelerated and pushed us
into this world even further.

So I'm curious,

what does the world
look like without cash?

Or less cash?

What are the advantages
and what are the challenges

of making that transition?

DS: I think some of the trends
that are emerging

coming out of this pandemic
or coming into it and as we look forward

is clearly this has been a discontinuous
change in the trendline,

as we move from physical to digital.