PayPal’s Card-Processing Growth Slows Amid Focus on Profit

PayPal Holdings Inc. reported slowing growth in its card-processing business even as fourth-quarter earnings topped analysts’ estimates.

Growth in the total payment volume for PayPal’s unbranded payment-processing business — the volume of payments it processes for other firms, not itself — slipped to 2% in the fourth quarter from from 29% a year earlier, a deceleration the firm attributed to an intentional effort to price its technology more competitively. Branded checkout growth also fell short of some estimates, according to Dan Dolev, an analyst at Mizuho Securities USA LLC.