As India's leading online payments solutions provider, PayU empowers a wide variety of businesses through its cutting-edge, award-winning technology. PayU's credit arm provides affordable loans to millions of first-time borrowers that would otherwise not have access to formal credit. By supporting entrepreneurship and increasing access to financial inclusion for both businesses and individuals, PayU is helping to grow the Indian economy. In its next phase growth, PayU aims to develop a full-fintech ecosystem in India providing multiple digital financial services in one integrated experience.
- What problem/societal need are you trying to solve? Why is your approach unique?
Many Indian businesses and people use informal or traditional payment and credit methods, which aren't the best solutions to their problems. Our payment arm provides safe, efficient, and convenient payment methods that help businesses transition from offline to digital payments. Our credit arm provides affordable loans to millions of first-time borrowers who might not have access to formal credit. By supporting entrepreneurship at the bottom of the pyramid and increasing access to financial inclusion for both businesses and individuals, we at PayU are helping grow the economy. An incredible example is how one micro-business which deals with mostly rural customers was able to increase its revenues when PayU improved its rate of successful transactions.
At the heart of our approach is our vision to respond to the unique needs of the Indian market by developing one platform which meets all the financial needs of consumers and merchants throughout their lifecycle. We all know that a vast majority of India's businesses and citizens might not have the resources or may not know how to deal with multiple financial or payments products. So we aim to be the one platform that anybody in India can trust and use to meet all their payments needs. An aim, by the way, in which we are succeeding.
- What or who inspired you to join PayU?
One, of course, is the exceptional growth of fintech in India and the vast opportunities that exist in this space. It is the most exciting place to be for me. The opportunity to be involved in this action, to develop innovative products and lead businesses is immensely exciting. I could not pass up the opportunity to drive truly impactful change which would further both, the country's digital and financial inclusion agenda.
The second reason was PayU itself. As a company, PayU strongly encourages entrepreneurial thinking and innovation. Despite being one of the largest fintech and payments companies in the world, it's amazing that PayU still manages to retain the nimbleness of a start-up. It is also a truly 'glocal' company, with a global reach but very responsive to local needs. I believe these attributes put PayU in a unique position to make a significant meaningful impact in every country, especially India. So, when the opportunity came to join PayU's global leadership team, it felt like the right next step in my journey.
- What has been the hardest challenge and the most pleasant surprise along the way?
Fintech is a complex sector. The regulations are forever evolving, and it is important for us to stay compliant and maintain trust. Data security is the top concern and the cost of making a mistake is huge. Earning and keeping customer trust is an ongoing exercise. Building world-class platforms at a fraction of global costs to provide viable price points and solutions for everyone is also a fundamental business challenge.
Balancing all these practical realities, while ensuring that we continue to innovate and deliver for the customer, to my mind is the hardest challenge. But that's what makes this space so interesting.
We all know that for a company to achieve success, having a supportive team and a thriving work culture is essential. What pleasantly surprised me when I joined PayU was how every leader and team member lived by these values and were completely aligned with each other and the vision of the company. Everyone pulls together as a team. What was even more surprising was how, at the same time, independent thinking and risk-taking was encouraged and supported. So you have this amazing culture where everyone is working towards the same goal but is allowed to do it in a manner that might be new or innovative. What you get then is an incredible number of entrepreneurs and a lot of entrepreneurial thinking at PayU. Think of it like a world cup winning football team. Everyone has a role to play and they are in charge of their respective areas, but everyone also works together and supports each other towards that one goal.
The other most heartening aspect of this culture is workforce diversity. Close to 30% of our workforce are women, and we are continuously working to ensure that we are the best place for women employees.
- As a leading technology company, what opportunities does PayU offer its employees?
Upskilling is also a core component of our employee strategy. We want our employees to keep learning and evolving not just as professionals - which is essential, but also as individuals. PayU leverages its global network to ensure that our employees have access to the best opportunities to develop their skills, especially in emerging technologies. For example, we have a global AI Learning Strategy that helps employees build solid technical AI skills and get industry-valued degrees that make them more marketable. I think as Indians we place a lot of emphasis on education. It doesn't surprise me to see many Indian employees taking up these self-learning opportunities.
- What are the future implications of the technology you are developing? What talent are you looking at to build this technology?
To fully leverage these technologies, PayU has focused on hiring the best global talent in these fields. We have a clearly defined strategy of developing talent in-house, by holding training programmes to upskill. We also keep our talent fighting fit with continuous brown bag sessions, product-theme-based days and hack days, which help keep their skills sharp.
- How do you stay one step ahead of the competition?
User centricity is a thread that runs across all our solutions. We invest great time and effort to listen and respond to the pain points that our partner merchants face. We develop solutions in-house and strive to innovate and develop better products for our partners.
To do this, we have partnered with and brought on-board some of the best talent in the industry.
- What top tips for success would you give to upcoming tech start-ups?
My second tip would be about culture. We have seen that developing a product and tech-oriented company culture is crucial if you're going to succeed. So, PayU's 'product-first' culture has enabled our employees to come up with the best solutions that have helped us scale rapidly. We are proud to have built an environment where product associates, engineers, data scientists and other employees can brainstorm, test the market needs and create great products that suit these needs.
- As a part of Prosus, how has the group helped your business to flourish?
Prosus has been one of the biggest and earliest backers of India's internet economy. As a group, it has fuelled PayU's ambition to build local business backed by global scale. In turn, PayU has adopted Prosus' belief of building leading companies that empower people and enrich communities. That's a powerful vision to be part of!
- How will digital payment technology impact our future?
Globally, we can see that the digital payments sector is going through a rapid state of transformation, with the help of AI, advanced analytics and IoT. These trends will shape the future of digital transactions in India as well. They will give rise to the Internet of Payments, where emerging tech such as wearables and blockchain will be adopted at a wider scale to improve lives. Eventually, this will also result in better-functioning businesses. So, more people will use formal financial services because they would be more accessible. More Indians will be insured and they will have better access to credit and financial planning. Most importantly, they will have convenient payment options.
- What is your favourite city to visit and why?
Share this story
Attachments
- Original document
- Permalink
Disclaimer
Prosus NV published this content on 08 January 2021 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 08 January 2021 17:41:06 UTC