Max Levchin`s Innovations in Online Fraud Prevention Garner Top Prize
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE via COLLEGIATE PRESSWIRE)--May 28, 2002--PayPal, Inc. (Nasdaq: PYPL) today announced that Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer Max Levchin has been named ``Innovator of the Year`` by Technology Review, MIT`s award-winning Magazine of Innovation. Levchin was selected to receive the top prize from the finalist pool of the 2002 TR100, 100 individuals under age 35 whose work in business and technology has a profound impact on today`s world. Levchin`s work in developing PayPal`s proprietary fraud detection and prevention software was key to his selection as Innovator of the Year.
``In the early days fraud was a major impediment to the growth of online payments and small-business eCommerce,`` said Levchin. ``We knew we had to fight back against the fraudsters or suffer the same fate as many competitors, so we innovated on existing anti-fraud ideas and built a system that makes complex patterns of transactions in the PayPal network transparent to our fraud analysts. The result is the fraud detection and prevention software we affectionately call `Igor.```
Today, PayPal has more than 16 million member accounts and facilitates an average of 295,000 payments each day. In 2001, $3.5 billion moved through PayPal - $3.1 billion of which was sent to small businesses and web entrepreneurs in payment for goods and services.
``The Igor system is making the Web safe for small business eCommerce, which will spur continued growth and innovation on the Internet,`` said Robert Buderi, Editor-in-Chief of MIT`s Technology Review. ``Max is a smart, young man with a remarkable passion for innovation and we hope his achievements will inspire other young people to follow his lead.``
As CTO, Levchin is responsible for the company`s software development, information management and security as well as its anti-fraud efforts.
About PayPal
PayPal enables any business or consumer with email to send and receive online payments securely, conveniently and cost-effectively. PayPal`s account-based network builds on the existing financial infrastructure of bank accounts and credit cards to create a global payment system. PayPal has more than 16 million member accounts, including more than 3 million business accounts. In 2001, PayPal processed over $3.5 billion in payments.
Based in Mountain View, California, PayPal is available to users in 38 countries including the United States. Further information about the company can be found at www.paypal.com.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements about PayPal that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause PayPal`s actual results to differ significantly from those projected. Factors that might cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to,PayPal`s ability to deal effectively with losses from fraudulent transactions, PayPal`s ability to implement successfully strategies to increase the adoption of PayPal`s electronic payment methods and PayPal`s ability to compete with other payment systems. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this release. PayPal`s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including PayPal`s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended March 31, 2002, include more information about factors that could affect PayPal`s financial results.
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