Westpac brand marketer to head up PayPal Australia marketing division

PayPal Australia has brought on Westpac’s former marketing and brand leader as its new marketing director for Australia.

Elaine Helihy joins the merchant payments provider after more than four years working in various strategic marketing roles at Westpac Group, and was most recently head of Westpac marketing and brand. Prior to this, she worked across marketing for the BT Financial Group’s superannuation division, and was also previously head of marketing communications for Thomson Reuters in London.

In a statement, PayPal local managing director, Libby Roy, said Herlihy’s appointment came at an important time for the company following the launch of its New Money campaign in Australia.

The marketing program debuted during the recent Super Bowl in the US and is being touted as a new brand direction for PayPal focused on democratising how money is managed and moved globally.

“New Money is more than just a tagline for us, it’s PayPal’s vision for the future of commerce,” said Herlihy. “The nature of money has changed and now more than ever, Australians are looking to fintech companies to offer innovative and adaptive approaches to commerce, which keep up with the trends. It is an incredibly exciting time to join PayPal.”

Herlihy said she’s also looking forward to working with the brand during a rapidly evolving time in the digital payments space.She reports directly to Roy and replaces Leanne Sheraton, who moved to a regional role as Senior Director, APAC Marketing and is now based in Singapore.

“The rate of change in the financial services industry is quickening and will lead to Australian consumers meeting their financial needs in very different ways in the next few years,” she commented.

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