eBay Promotes David Marcus to Fill Top Vacancy at PayPal

PayPal has appointed David Marcus to the position of president, filling the vacancy that was suddenly created when Scott Thompson left to become CEO of Yahoo.

Marcus joined PayPal in August 2011, after it acquired Zong, a leading mobile payments provider, where he was founder and CEO.

The appointment will be effective April 2, and Marcus will report directly to eBay’s President and CEO John Donahoe.

Since Marcus joined PayPal, he has served as the VP of mobile, responsible for leading the company’s mobile payments business. By appointing Marcus, the company is clearly emphasizing its mobile payments initiatives, which includes expanding into in-store payments at retail.

For instance, Home Depot recently rolled out PayPal to all of its nearly 2,000 stores nationwide, and PayPal is implementing its point-of-sale innovations with other national retailers this year.

In a statement, Donahoe said, “David is the right leader for PayPal. … He will bring start-up energy to PayPal’s unmatched global reach and digital payments capabilities. And he will sharpen PayPal’s focus on accelerating product innovation, driving consumer engagement and making paying anytime, anywhere through your digital wallet a safe, easy and convenient experience.”

Over the past year, Marcus worked on the development of PayPal Here, which is a card reader that can be plugged into mobile phones to accept credit card payments, much like Square, a competitor.

“Shopping is fun, but paying is not,” Marcus said in a statement. We’re off to a great start in 2012 with breakthrough products that will truly change the way everyone shops and pays.”

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