BlackBerry App World to help PayPal double in size

PayPal president Scott Thompson says the payments service aims to double in size in the next three years, so that by 2011 it's processing $100-120 billion of transactions a year.

The prediction came during an analyst day this week, reported by AP. PayPal processed $60 billion of transactions in 2008 and has 70 million active user accounts.

According to Thompson, that growth will be fuelled by payments outside parent company eBay.

This is where BlackBerry App World comes in. PayPal is the official payment mechanism for Research In Motion's app store.

Okay, so it's unlikely to contribute more than a chunk of those extra payments, but it shows the ambition PayPal has to become more of a force in mobile.

Thompson says PayPal hopes to be generating $4-5 billion of revenues (its cut of the transactions) by 2011. Mobile - including BlackBerry - could be a significant element.