- The brand told reporters that employees will not be out of a job but will take on new roles inside of PayPal or other companies
- Executives from the payments giant said that the shutdown was a ‘difficult’ decision
- Operations will be transferred to other PayPal offices, according to the brand
Paytech leader PayPal will reportedly close its Malaysian office to restructure the brand's customer support team. The Kuala Lumpur office, its only office in Malaysia, used to be the centre for PayPal’s customer care in Asia and other parts of the world. PayPal confirmed the news this week and said in a statement that their office in Malaysia will close this year.
According to the brand, the Malaysian team’s responsibility will be assumed by the brand’s other offices, which include India, China and the Philippines. PayPal is a trusted payments brand used by merchants and businesses. Many of its customers also use it to transfer money internationally because of its affordable overseas transfer rates. Observers say that the brand is successful because of its relatively low fees. They add, however, that great customer care has also played a crucial role in the company keeping its current customer base.
A spokesperson for the company explained to TechCrunch on Wednesday that their decision to close the office down is to fulfil their aim to consolidate a range of employees under one roof. The spokesperson explained that the closure of its Kuala Lumpur office will not affect PayPal services in Malaysia and that customers in the country can continue using PayPal products as normal.
It is not known how many employees will be out of a job once it closes down in April. However, the brand has emphasised its efforts to provide a smooth transition for their employees, noting that affected staff will have new jobs inside PayPal, while others will go to other companies. While PayPal executives answered questions about the paytech’s plans, they said that their “priority” at the moment is to help their employees “as they transition to the next step in their careers”.
PayPal executives added that the closure was a “difficult decision” as the operations centre in Kuala Lumpur “has done a remarkable job serving our customers since the site opened in 2011”. The reorganisation effort is to ensure that future needs of users are met.
PayPal was one of the first companies in the world to introduce digital payments. It is available as a payment method on various websites, especially those that are run by Shopify. While some say that the brand has fallen behind in emerging markets where mobile payments run by neo banks dominate, it is still one of the most recognisable payment brands among the tech savvy. The company also expanded its reach through its remittance service Xoom.
Experts say that messaging and payments app WeChat is among its biggest competitors, especially in China. Messaging application WhatsApp, on the other hand, will likely be joining the payments market as well because it has been experimenting with paytech in India. The emergence of new paytechs can threaten PayPal, according to observers, but it will remain as one of the best due to its variety of products and the kind of customer service it provides to consumers. Other challengers include Line, another messaging app that provides payments services in Thailand, Taiwan and Japan.
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