Analyst: If we acquire PayPal, Stripe, or leverage Venmo to expand our consumer-side footprint

On February 26, Mizuho analysts noted that a potential acquisition of PayPal by Stripe would help the payment firm expand beyond its traditional merchant payment business into the consumer market. Earlier reports have indicated Stripe is considering acquiring all or a portion of PayPal’s business. The transaction is feasible in terms of scale: Stripe’s latest valuation stands at roughly $159 billion, far exceeding PayPal’s market capitalization of approximately $43 billion. Analysts argue PayPal’s large user base and its peer-to-peer (P2P) payment app Venmo would provide Stripe with strong consumer-side brand recognition and a robust user network. Additionally, PayPal’s Braintree merchant payment infrastructure could boost Stripe’s competitiveness in the payment processing market. Per the analysis, Braintree could add around $700 billion in total payment volume (TPV) to Stripe, which currently processes roughly $1.4 trillion in annual TPV. (Reporting from The Block)