Dive Brief:
- Google is currently the front-runner to win PayPal’s cloud business, according to an CNBC report, citing sources familiar with the matter.
- However, sources also say PayPal is evaluating other cloud providers as well and has not yet made a final decision.
- CNBC sources said that PayPal is unlikely to move its tech infrastructure during the fourth quarter because high volume of ecommerce during that period.
Dive Insight:
The financial services sector appears ripe for the picking. In June, Deutsche Bank researchers said large banks are beginning to adopt public cloud services more frequently, and adoption could grow significantly in 2017. The researchers said banks are growing more interested in cloud now because of its mainstream adoption and because vendors have made cloud services more secure and improved compliance services.
Not only could Google increase visibility for cloud in the financial services sector, PayPal would be a huge win for Google's cloud overall. PayPal processes $10,900 worth of payment volume per second and has 188 million active accounts, according to CNBC.
Google has been pushing hard into the enterprise cloud space since Diane Greene joined the company last November. In Q1, the company managed to secure several major deals, including pacts with both Apple and Spotify—companies that previously relied exclusively on AWS for cloud services. In March, Home Depot said it will move some of its data to Google's cloud as well, while Disney Consumer Products Interactive Media and Coca Cola also said they were coming onboard.
PayPal has some existing business with Amazon Web Services, and it has its own huge data centers as well, but additional cloud capacity could help the company handle sudden spikes in demand, which it has previously struggled with.
