PayPal has become the latest big company to announce its backing for the proposed Equality Act that’s currently before US Congress.

In a statement posted on its website yesterday, Franz Paasche, Vice President, Corporate Affairs, said:

‘In June, PayPal joined with friends, family, and colleagues to celebrate the Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage throughout the United States.

‘We were thrilled and encouraged because that ruling marked such an important step forward in the ongoing march toward inclusion, equality, and justice in this country – values that are the heart of everything we believe in and strive to achieve at PayPal.

‘But clearly, there’s still work to do to ensure that all Americans enjoy full equality under the law … it is with great enthusiasm and our strongest support that we commend the introduction of the Equality Act of 2015 in the United States Senate and House of Representatives.

‘The Equality Act would amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to include sexual orientation and gender identity, and ban discrimination in employment, housing, public education, public accommodations, access to credit, and more.

‘At PayPal, we have always believed that everyone has the right to be treated equally, with dignity and respect – which is why we were one of the first companies in California to extend employee benefits to same-sex couples.

‘We encourage companies around the nation and the world to choose to do the same, both as a matter of fairness and good business practices.

‘On an even more fundamental level, we believe everyone deserves to live without fear of discrimination or retaliation for simply being who they are.’

PayPal was established in 1998, and floated on the stock market in 2002, when it became a subsidiary of eBay. Last year, it generated $7.9billion in profit (44% of eBay’s total profits).

In September 2014, eBay (which scored the top ranking of 100 on the most recent Corporate Equality Index) announced that it intended to spin off PayPal as an independent, publicly-traded company, partly in order to allow it to strike deals more easily with other e-commerce sites. This process was completed last month.

PayPal joins a growing list of corporations to voice their support for the Equality Act, including the likes Intel, IBM, Apple, Google, Twitter, Nike, Facebook and American Airlines, among others.

‘PayPal understands that inclusion helps lead to innovation and productivity, and that discrimination has no place in the workplace,” said Brandon Lorenz of Human Rights Campaign.

‘What you’re seeing is a drumbeat of companies saying that they believe equality is good for business and that they support the Equality Act because they believe the time has come for full federal equality.’