Louise Phelan leaving PayPal role after 13 years with payments group

Irish businesswoman Louise Phelan is leaving Paypal after 13 years as a senior executive with the global payments processor.

Ms Phelan confirmed late on Monday that she has decided to step down as Paypal's vice president of global operations, Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), to pursue other opportunities in the technology industry.

“After 13 energising years at Paypal, I have decided to move on to new challenges and opportunities where I can share my experiences and add value at a whole new level,” she said in a statement.

Ms Phelan is looking at a number of projects in the technology industry, but has not said what these positions are.

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The news took many by surprise, with a number of senior figures in Paypal paid tribute to her after she announced that she was leaving on Monday. She is one of the most high profile women executives in Irish business.

Ms Phelan intends to continue as a non-executive director of Ryanair and customer services operator, Voxpro.

She noted that during her time at Paypal the company had grown from employing 200 people to more than 3,000 now.

In her role as vice president she had been responsible for growing revenues and recruiting significant numbers of customers.