NEW YORK: Shares of PayPal Holdings Inc jumped on Monday after a report that it is exploring ways to let its U.S. customers trade individual stocks on its platform.

       The payments company also hired brokerage industry veteran Rich Hagen, CNBC reported, citing two sources familiar with the matter. Hagen is the chief executive officer of Invest at PayPal, as well as the co-founder and former president of brokerage Ally Invest, according his LinkedIn page.

       PayPal did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. The company has 400 million accounts and launched cryptocurrency trading in the US earlier in the year.

       In a February presentation, PayPal said its total addressable market, including bill payment, government payments and asset trading was $110 trillion.

       Retail trading has ballooned in the past few years as online platforms have gained users and fees have disappeared.

       Charles Schwab Corp estimates that "investible" wealth in the United States, including funds in defined contribution plans, retail wealth management and bank deposits, exceeds $50 trillion.

       PayPal's shares spiked higher and closed up nearly 4%.

       Bloomberg separately reported that PayPal is considering bids from companies including Apex Fintech Solutions and DriveWealth, citing people familiar with the matter. Apex and DriveWealth were not immediately available for comment.

       Robinhood Markets, whose fee-free smartphone stock trading app is widely used by retail investors, extended an earlier decline and was last down nearly 7%.- Reuters