Visa/PayPal: The race to pick a winner and the impact on credit unions

The strategic partnership Visa and PayPal announced in July has generated an unusual amount of speculation, even for the payments world.

The topic dominated the Q&A portion of Visa’s quarterly earnings call the day of the announcement, and countless analysts have weighed in with their take—most focused on declaring who “won” in the agreement.

First, I’m struck by our obsession with winners and losers. This isn’t a reality show, people. Isn’t it possible that a deal could benefit multiple parties?

Besides, we’re in the early stages of a newly crafted and evolving relationship. Bear in mind that if you had snapped a photo a third of the way in, Usain Bolt was not leading the Olympic 100-meter dash. And the mobile payments “race” is a much longer slog.

Nonetheless, the market’s initial reaction was negative toward PayPal. Its stock fell nearly 10% in the days following the announcement, albeit from a three-month high.

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