PayPal Holdings, Inc. announced today the appointment of Paul Parisi, a payments industry veteran of 17 years, including more than a decade with American Express, as general manager of its Canadian division.
He replaces Cameron Schmidt, who served as PayPal Canada’s general manager for almost four years. No reason for Schmidt’s departure was given.
According to a Sept. 6 press release, Parisi’s new role will focus on the “next phase of growth” for PayPal Canada and its customers, playing a critical role in bringing its newest innovations to market while building on PayPal’s successful 10-year history in Canada.
The company says it has 6.4 million customers in the country, including 250,000 small businesses.
Prior to arriving at PayPal, Parisi served as vice president of American Express’s global client group in the United Kingdom between 2005 and 2008; as regional vice president of its U.S. commercial card, central region division between 2008 and 2012; and as the company’s vice president/general manager of global corporate payments in Canada from 2012 until earlier this month, according to his LinkedIn page, developing and executing new strategies across each of his positions.
He also supports the United Way and was executive lead for the American Express employee giving campaign Give2Gether, raising more than $500,000 for charities across Canada.
Schmidt, meanwhile, is still listed on his LinkedIn page as PayPal Canada’s general manager as of this writing. Prior to his general manager role Schmidt had worked at PayPal for two years, and at Intuit for five – two positions in a long career that has included development and management positions at a variety of companies dating back to at least 1988.
Originally established in 1998 as Confinity, PayPal rose to prominence after being purchased by online auction giant eBay Inc. in 2002. Afterward it operated as an eBay subsidiary until being spun off into its own company last July.
Since 2015, the company has also made headlines for its One Touch web payment service, its peer-to-peer money transfer service PayPal.me, and its “Return Shipping on Us” service, which allows Canadian customers dissatisfied with their online purchases to return them for free.
