The digitisation of money, the rapid expansion of internet access and, of course, the adoption of mobile phones have created the perfect conditions to make it easier, secure, and affordable to save, spend, give, and borrow.
We're trying to democratise financial services, to ensure that management and movement of money is a right for all citizens, not the privilege of the affluent.
I think that the world is going to remain a very interconnected place. I don't think there's any getting away from that. The Internet has brought us closer together. I think cross-border trade is going to continue to grow substantially. I think there may be certain trade agreements that can be renegotiated, one way or another.
Personal and mobile computing, long-distance communications, energy storage, and air travel are just a few of the things that have been democratized by technology, creating new possibilities for billions of people.
In addition to my job at American Express, I'm also chairman of the board of Symantec, one of the leading players in anti-virus and cyber-crime prevention software, so I know firsthand just how sophisticated many of these attacks can be.
My mom pushed me in a baby carriage at Martin Luther King rallies. My grandfather was a union organizer. And to me, there is no room - no room - for discrimination of any kind. To me, it's just an anathema.
I think that sometimes people talk about disruption, and I've seen tons of startups come in as disruptors and then disappear. And I think what we need to do as an industry is think about a world that is dominated by mobile and software and not extrapolate from what was. And I think a lot of big companies tend to want to do that.
The big problem retailers are facing is the world is moving to mobile.
We all have people who are literally one life shock away from going into a crisis. For many of us, we have a buffer in one way or another. We have a savings account, or we have credit that we can go to. The underserved don't have that luxury.
I'm also the chairman of the board of Symantec, which is the world's largest cybersecurity - software cybersecurity company.
What we want to do to monetize Venmo is to add more and more capabilities. Anywhere you see a PayPal merchant, you can click on that button and actually use your Venmo account to check out at that merchant. Then we'll monetize that transaction exactly the same way we monetize a PayPal transaction.
We have a very close relationship with Google. We extend our offerings to all the markets that we expand into.
I consider myself a good communicator and a good salesman.
If you want to have the best employees, there really needs to be a vision and a mission. Talent looks for a mission. And if you have the best talent, that's the single biggest competitive advantage any company can have.
Many of the things that we take for granted around the table, like cashing a check or just paying a bill or sending money to somebody you love, is very time consuming.
When I first entered the corporate world, doing good and making money were seen as separate and contradictory threads. Challenging that notion set my career - and life - on a new course.
I think a lot of people have predicted the demise of cash, and they've frequently been wrong. But there's no question that the smartphone is leading to the digitization of money. You really now have all the power of a bank branch in the palm of your hand.
I do think that in a digital future, consumers will increasingly turn to brands that they trust. Trust, security, and service are even more important in a digital world.
The difference between online and offline commerce is basically blurring and disappearing.
On average, an underserved consumer spends 10% of their disposable income on unnecessary fees and interest rates.
