eBay is expanding its global payment platform capabilities and enhancing customer experience through a new partnership with UK-based digital payments processor Checkout.com.
With more than 2.3 billion live listings, eBay is one of the world’s largest online marketplaces, serving millions of customers in 190 markets. For eBay, Checkout brings valuable expertise in fraud prevention and AI-driven transaction optimization, simplifying operations for merchants.
It’s an important win for Checkout, which is recovering from the loss of its lucrative Binance business and working to rebuild its reputation.
“This is an important deal for Checkout, not only because of the scale of eBay as a new customer, but because it underscores a renewed focus on their core payments expertise,” said Don Apgar, Director of the Merchant Payments Practice at Javelin Strategy & Research. “Their relationship with Binance made great headlines but did little to advance their relevance in payments.”
Focusing on the Core Expertise
The company has set its sights on achieving a full-year profit in 2025. Checkout opened an office in San Francisco earlier this year. eBay is headquartered nearby in San Jose, California.
The eBay deal marks the second major win for Checkout this week, after the announcement of an alliance with CellPoint Digital. The CellPoint partnership is expected to go live in June and will offer travel merchants enhanced payment performance, global reach, agility, scalability, and transparent pricing.
A Change in Reputation
The partnership is the latest move into more mainstream businesses for Checkout, which originally made its name processing payments for industries like gambling and cryptocurrency. At one point, the company relied on Binance, processing $2 billion in trades for the crypto exchange in a single month back in 2021. It also counted the now-disgraced FTX as a client.
In August 2023, Checkout.com ended its relationship with Binance over concerns about money laundering. Although the company downplayed the decision, it noted that crypto accounted for less than 4% of its overall volume. Checkout also cut 230 jobs following the announcement.
At its peak during the Binance era, Checkout was valued at $40 billion, but its valuation has since dropped by 75%.
Nevertheless, Checkout’s revenue grew by 40% last year as it pursued a more globalized strategy. In the U.S., Checkout saw 80% growth over the course of the year, adding more than 300 new merchant partners.
