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Chriss, currently a senior executive at software firm Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU), will take over at PayPal on September 27. He will replace outgoing boss Dan Schulman, who will remain on the board of the company until its annual stockholder meeting next May.
PayPal said Chriss had the “unanimous support” of its board, calling him a “seasoned and highly successful business leader steeped in technology and product leadership.”
Shares in PayPal climbed in early U.S. trading, although they have fallen by over 39% over the past one-year period.
PayPal, which has seen a crush of pandemic-era online spending abate and increased pressure from competitors like Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), said Chriss will be tasked with “driving growth across the […] platform for years to come.”
One of Chriss’s earliest tests will likely be the roll-out of PayPal USD, a new stablecoin — a type of crypto asset pegged to an asset like the U.S. dollar — that the firm hopes will bolster its status as a key player in the digital payments sector. PayPal said it would gradually make the service available to customers in the U.S.
The move was also seen as a fresh sign of confidence in the cryptocurrency industry, which has been plagued in recent months by regulatory probes and high-profile failures. PayPal is the first major financial technology firm to pursue digital tokens as a form of payments and transfers.
Regulators and policymakers have previously strongly opposed the issuing of stablecoins by major businesses, with one particular example being the mooted launch in 2019 of Meta’s (NASDAQ:META) — known at the time as Facebook — Libra.
