“This is my first trip to Romania, but I am sure it will not be the last. I have enjoyed it very much and I must say that Bucharest has been a pleasant surprise. I will warmly remember the atmosphere in the Romanian Capital, the people and everything linked to the ICEEfest, a truly successful event, with a spectacular lineup of speakers,” he said, before tackling the subjects related to technology and commerce.   
He carefully chooses his words and says that the CEE is expected to see a rapid optimization of e-commerce websites towards mobile viewing, because otherwise profits may start to drop. According to Perillat, some 30 per cent of all consumers in Romania and in the entire CEE region own smartphones, and most of them make online purchases. In this context, the PayPal representative believes there is a new trend in retail and now consumers have the mall in their pocket 24/7, available anytime, anywhere. “We no longer have online and offline retail. The boundaries between the two are becoming blurred. We believe that the next few years are going to be extremely important for the new retail and the mobile environment will play a key role,” Damien added.            
PayPal’s most recent statistics show that mobile payments and e-commerce are growing strong at international level. The group forecast sales of ten billion USD generated from mobile devices in 2010, but the year ended with a total volume of mobile payments of 14 billion USD. There is an extremely fast rate of change, which is reflected in the figures released by the company. PayPal started with a volume of mobile payments of 3.4 billion USD in 2010 and the volume increased four times by 2012. In this dynamic environment, the company’s strategy is based on two pillars: domestic and cross-border. What does that mean in practice? Perillat says there will be more local partnerships in various regions between online and offline traders, mobile telephone operators and financial institutions. “We will mobilize both the online (Mobile Express Checkout) and offline businesses (e.g. PayPal Here). We will continue to support our cross-border strategy, so if you buy dresses from France, mobile telephones from China or sell shoes in the US, PayPal will be there. With a network spanning 193 countries and 25 currencies, PayPal has global coverage, which allows everyone to make a payment or receive one,” he added. 
He then talks about different approaches to the market. The “mobile wallet” concept has been employed by a number of mobile operators and banks and required that all the relevant financial information, such as account and card details, be stocked on the mobile device. Damien said however that this strategy had its drawbacks, as personal and financial information could be compromised if the mobile telephone is lost or stolen. Also the system cannot be used if the telephone is switched off. At the same time, he is pleased to say that PayPal has found a different approach: “We are the mobile wallet,” he said. In this case, the mobile wallet operates in the cloud and can be accessed from a computer, mobile phone, tablet, card, or simply through an identification element such as an e-mail address or a telephone number. Thus, sensitive financial information is kept safely by PayPal. “The risk of compromising financial information is thus significantly reduced, while consumers continue to fully benefit from the functionality and flexibility offered by payments made from smartphones or tablets.”