PayPal brings many of its brands under a single umbrella, but Venmo remains a stand-alone
A PayPal sign is seen at its headquarters in San Jose, California, on Jan. 30, 2024.
Justin Sullivan | Getty Images News | Getty Images
For Frank Keller, it’s a pivotal moment at PayPal. After two years, two CEOs and endless brand strategy meetings, the company is, in his view, ready to redefine the world of business payments.
With the launch this week of PayPal Open, Keller, who is executive vice president for the enterprise merchant group, and his team are consolidating many of the company’s offerings — Braintree, Zettle, Hyperwallet, Chargehound — into a single brand.
Speaking from Germany, Keller told CNBC that the strategy was set in motion after a customer mentioned, “You have all this amazing stuff, but we don’t know about it.”
“I’ve been working, actually for two years now, on this launch, in terms of how do we establish a PayPal as a B2B business,” Keller said.
PayPal, founded in 1998, was synonymous with its consumer-facing checkout button, but its business-to-business solutions have amounted to an assortment of homegrown technologies and acquired companies with little cohesion. With PayPal Open, those names will fade into the background, and PayPal can focus its centralized effort to become more important to businesses.
Keller likens the effort to other consumer brands that successfully expanded into B2B, pointing to Amazon Web Services as a prime example. Meanwhile, much of CEO Alex Chriss’ early success has stemmed from boosting transaction margins and better monetizing key acquisitions like Braintree, which handles credit card processing for Meta and processed nearly $600 billion in total payment volume last year.
Landing on the name Open took months of market research, internal deliberations and some last-minute strategic pivots. There was even a debate over whether to focus more on Braintree.
“PayPal is one of the most trusted brands” in the world, Keller said, explaining the logic to the decision.
The pressure is on Chriss, who took over as CEO in September 2023 to orchestrate a turnaround after a brutal few years for PayPal.
The company’s branded checkout business — historically its most profitable segment — faces mounting competition. Apple Pay, Google Pay and Shopify’s Shop Pay have all eaten into PayPal’s dominance, particularly among younger consumers who prefer mobile-first payment solutions. Branded checkout accounts for 30% of PayPal’s total payment volume.
PayPal Open is designed to do much more than handle B2B payments. Businesses, developers and partners will also be able to integrate financial services and AI-powered business insights – all through a single connection. For merchants, that means easier access to fraud protection, buy now, pay later options, global transactions in 140 currencies, and lending solutions.
There’s one notable brand that’s not joining the consolidation: Venmo.
The popular peer-to-peer payment app has more than 90 million active users, all in the U.S., and is practically ubiquitous among younger audiences.
“People say, ‘Venmo me,'” Keller said. “It’s such a distinct consumer brand.”
The rollout of PayPal Open begins this week, with a phased transition of brands starting in April, meaning Braintree and Hyperwallet won’t disappear overnight.
Keller said businesses “don’t have to rip and replace their Braintree” or other integrations, but instead gain seamless access to all of PayPal’s offerings. Keller says it’s all about showing that PayPal can be a true enterprise powerhouse.
“We want to be an open platform where businesses, developers and partners can build upon our solutions,” Keller said.
Germany is about to become home to Europe’s largest battery storage system – a massive 1 gigawatt (GW) / 4 gigawatt-hour (GWh) project in Jänschwalde, Brandenburg.
LEAG Clean Power GmbH and Fluence Energy GmbH, a subsidiary of US-based Fluence Energy (NASDAQ: FLNC), are teaming up to build the “GigaBattery Jänschwalde 1000.” The four-hour system will use Fluence’s Smartstack technology, its latest large-scale energy storage solution.
Once complete, Europe’s largest battery storage project will play a key role in stabilizing Germany’s grid and storing renewable power for when the sun isn’t shining and the wind isn’t blowing. It’s designed to deliver essential grid services, support energy trading, and boost energy security as the country phases out fossil fuels.
LEAG’s broader “GigawattFactory” plan combines solar and wind farms with flexible power plants and large-scale batteries across Germany’s Lusatian energy region. “By constructing gigascale storage facilities, we’re addressing one of the biggest challenges of the energy transition: ensuring constant power regardless of the availability of renewable energies,” said Adi Roesch, CEO of the LEAG Group.
Fluence CEO Julian Nebreda described the project as a “milestone for the energy future of Germany and Europe,” adding that it demonstrates how collaboration and cutting-edge technology can “transform the foundation of our economy and our everyday lives.”
The German government recently reaffirmed the importance of storage in building a secure and affordable clean power system. With this 4 GWh giant, LEAG and Fluence are implementing that priority in one of Europe’s most coal-heavy regions.
Read more: Battery boom: 5.6 GW of US energy storage added in Q2
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![The Genesis GV90 is shaping up to be a real stunner [Video]](https://i0.wp.com/electrek.co/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/11/Genesis-GV90-ultra-luxury-SUV.jpeg?resize=1200,628&quality=82&strip=all&ssl=1)
The GV90 will be the brand’s largest, most luxurious SUV yet. With its official debut coming up, a production version of the Genesis GV90 was spotted in public for the first time, offering a closer look at the stunning SUV.
The Genesis GV90 is a stunning flagship SUV
Genesis vehicles already have a unique design that’s hard to miss. The big Creste Grille, Two-Line Quad Lamps, and smooth character lines offer a refined, luxurious look, but Genesis is planning to take it to the next level with the GV90.
The GV90 is an “ultra-luxe, state-of-the-art SUV,” according to Genesis. It will be the luxury brand’s new flagship vehicle and first full-size electric SUV.
We got our first look at the flagship SUV last March after Genesis unveiled the Neolun concept at the New York Auto Show.
The GV90 has been spotted out in public several times now, even flashing high-end features like coach doors and adaptive air suspension, but now, we are finally getting our first look at the production version in real life.
A new video from HealerTV shows the production version of the Genesis GV90 in action. Although it’s still covered in camo, you can see a few slight design changes from the concept shown last year.
The headlights and grille appear closer in design to its current vehicles, but other than that, the GV90 looks essentially the same up front as the Neolun concept.
Since it’s still covered, it’s hard to see where the headlights are connected at this point. From the side and rear, the GV90 looks identical to the concept.
Genesis has yet to announce an official launch date, but the GV90 could debut by the end of the year with sales expected to kick off in mid-2026.
The flagship SUV is rumoured to be the first vehicle to debut on Hyundai’s new eM platform, which it claims will “provide 50% improvement in driving range” compared to its current EVs. It will also serve as a tech beacon, featuring Hyundai’s most advanced connectivity and safety tech.
We will learn official prices and final specs soon, but one thing is for sure: it won’t be cheap. The Genesis GV90 is expected to start at around $100,000, but higher trims could cost significantly more with added features and options.
Genesis is also introducing its first hybrid, the GV80, next year, followed by its first extended-range electric vehicle (EREV) based on the GV70. The EREV is expected to launch in late 2026 or early 2027. There’s also an off-road SUV in the works, which will likely arrive as a 2027 model.
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