I recently was asked to give a TED Talk on what I see as the future and the opportunity ahead for the payments industry.

 

It was an incredible experience to take a step back and think about how money is going to change the world. Money plays a crucial role in all of our lives every day, as a means by which we meet our needs, satisfy our wants, and achieve our dreams – as well as help out those in need.

 

But money is changing. And when money changes, the world changes.

 

People are taking control of their destiny to start their own businesses and crowd fund capital. They are sharing, exchanging and helping one another without involving a bank or other organization. It’s getting easier and easier for each of us to buy, sell, borrow, lend, fund-raise, or donate – with our neighbor across the street or a stranger on the other side of the world.

 

At PayPal, we are focused on trust innovation. We are helping to build trust by authenticating and protecting identity. This has allowed PayPal to extend our payment services into 203 countries, removing the cultural, economic and geographical barriers that are keeping economies apart. Innovation in trust is providing more opportunity than we ever could have imagined. Better systems for establishing identity will bring benefits in economic efficiency, productivity, trade and investment.

 

Future generations will have unprecedented opportunities to transact with people in all corners of the world, where different cultures are practiced, different languages are spoken, different currencies are used. And yet once these differences are no longer barriers, the opportunities and possibilities from these exchanges will be unlimited.

 

Not least will be the benefits when some part of the world is struck by another natural disaster or man-made catastrophe that leaves millions of people in need of aid.

 

Here’s what I shared as being possible within our lifetime: