PayPal do have a network effect amongst customers who choses PayPal because they marketed for decades that purchases through PayPal are protected in case of issues.
That probably just makes them a nicely cemented incumbent rather than a network effect.
Contrasting with social — if I want to message all my friends about a housewarming party, Mastedon might be my preferred platform & I might hate FB/WhatsApp, but if none of my friends actually _use_ Mastedon I'm out of luck. I have to talk with my friends somewhere that they can receive the message.
Whereas if a merchant offers me payment options of MasterCard, Amex or PayPal online, there's no additional pull towards PayPal because all my friends use it.
Contrasting with social — if I want to message all my friends about a housewarming party, Mastedon might be my preferred platform & I might hate FB/WhatsApp, but if none of my friends actually _use_ Mastedon I'm out of luck. I have to talk with my friends somewhere that they can receive the message.
Whereas if a merchant offers me payment options of MasterCard, Amex or PayPal online, there's no additional pull towards PayPal because all my friends use it.