PayPal Appoints new MD in Australia
Online payments provider PayPal Australia Pty. Limited has announced the appointment of Frerk-Malte Feller as its new managing director, effective immediately.
“I am delighted to be joining the Australian team to provide strategic direction at a time when there is great demand for PayPal to help grow online shopping in Australia,” said Malte. “My main priority is to continue to provide PayPal’s more than five million Australian customer accounts and 18,000 merchant partners with a secure and innovative online payments solution to facilitate safe, global e-commerce.”
Malte takes over the role from Dinuke Ranasinghe, acting managing director since March 2009. Dinuke was PayPal Australia’s first employee and has now moved into a regional role as head of product for Asia-Pacific. He will be based in Singapore.
“The fact that PayPal is Australia’s favourite way to pay online is a tribute to the success and hard work of Dinuke and my predecessors in building a strong Australian business,” said Malte. “I look forward to building upon this with my team, especially as more Australians look to shop online safely, including via their smart phones. More Australian businesses are also considering their online strategy to drive growth into local and international marketplaces, and this provides an exciting opportunity for us.”
Malte is taking charge of PayPal at a time when it is the most preferred online payment service with Australians when compared to other online payment systems and individual credit card brands, according to Nielsen research[1].
Malte originally joined the eBay group of companies in 1999. Prior to joining PayPal Australia, he was managing director for eBay Germany, and a member of the European Leadership Team.
Between 2004 and 2008, Malte was managing director of PayPal Germany, Austria and Switzerland, during which time he launched PayPal in these markets. By the end of his tenure, PayPal was considered the leading German online payments service serving more than seven million accounts at the time.
[1] Nielsen, June 2009: ‘Consumer Report 1H2009: Profiling online and mobile commerce activities in Australia’