Tech Talks vol.5 – Merchant

About Tech Talks

In this Tech Talks series we share the everyday life of the PayPay Product team through the eyes of members from over 35 countries around the world. This time, Shinichi Morimoto from the Merchant team will share his story.

* Japanese version of the article is also available.

What I’m working on currently:

I belong to the Merchant Team and am responsible for the development and operation of merchant-related systems.

The Merchant Team:

As the name suggests, the Merchant Team handles the development and operation of systems related to merchants, such as merchant information, in-store management screens, and the onboarding systems used for the initial applications of PayPay merchants. The team’s main activity is developing new features, but we also receive inquiries about functions from the people who use them. Therefore, improving existing functionality is also a vital part of our team’s work.

Most recently, I was the technical owner responsible for the development of JPQR’s back-end functions. This was an invaluable experience for me, as I was able to work through all the necessary processes, from reviewing specifications for external system integration to coordinating business operations. At PayPay, we value the spirit of challenge, so regardless of when you were hired, if you are motivated, you’ll be given important work to do. Of course, this comes with a lot of responsibility, but with the enthusiasm and support from all of our team members, you will have no problem taking on the toughest tasks.

A Technical Challenge I Experienced Recently

One of our systems, the on-boarding system, is a type of batch system that works with several microservices to process different areas of the system. Therefore, depending on the content of the data and the communication status between other services, failures may occur. In most cases, recovery is automatic, but depending on the nature of the error, manual recovery may be required, which can be problematic for the team. There are several reasons for this. Firstly, it is difficult to determine the cause of the error from the error log, and if parts of the documentation are missing, new members will not be able to follow the process flow. As a result of working with team members to automate the recovery process, improving the error logs and missing documentation in areas that cannot be automated, and sharing the operation at review meetings, all members now fully understand the process and are able to perform recovery operations at a high level. This has been a big win for us as it has reduced the cost of processing alerts and operational costs, allowing members to focus more on developing innovative new features.

What I like to Challenge at PayPay:

By being involved in many projects, I’ve gained a deeper understanding of the systems I’m responsible for. With the addition of new members, the team is becoming much larger than before. In the future, I would like to use my experience to create a system that allows new members to immediately demonstrate their value and contribute to the team. On the system side, we are working with all departments to make the system more stable and easier to use.

My Typical Daily & Weekly Schedules:

My mornings start with a stand-up meeting with the team. As a unique team initiative, we have an ice-breaker at the beginning of each session, where members take turns to talk about a range of topics from hobbies to favorite movies. As more and more people have begun working remotely due to COVID-19, this ice-breaker activity is a great opportunity for the team to communicate. We also have a weekly review meeting. PayPay is running multiple projects at the same time, so we use the review meetings to share details of the projects each member is working on, so that everyone has a good understanding of all the features. Finally, once a month we have ”retrospective time,” where we use KPT to review and improve our team management.

My Career before Joining PayPay:

After working for a SIer, I worked as a backend engineer, where I was in charge of ad serving systems. I have been involved in building a wide range of systems, from AWS and Azure cloud infrastructure to back-end applications.

The Reason I Decided to Join PayPay:

I knew about PayPay before I joined the company and was using the service myself. I was attracted to the extremely technically challenging environment, where we had to ensure low latency and high reliability in a high-traffic environment. Also, the members come from a variety of nationalities and backgrounds, so I thought it would be a great opportunity to gain experience that I couldn’t get at other companies. When I actually joined PayPay, the first thing that surprised me was the outstanding technical skills of the members. I was excited to see how they were able to solve complex requirements in a very short amount of time using the leading-edge technology stack. In addition to the technical aspects, each member of the team has a first-class commitment to their work and is always looking to improve their performance through discussions.

A Message to Aspiring PayPay Employees:

I think what’s fascinating about PayPay is that the company is working toward a very challenging goal that will have a huge impact on society: driving cashless payments in Japan. We have a group of extremely skilled people in a proactive environment where we roll out features at top speed using the latest technology stack to maintain the stability of systems that handle large volumes of payment transactions. We value communication, and I feel that I gain new perspectives and ideas every day through discussions with members from diverse backgrounds. As I mentioned earlier, we have a culture that encourages and supports challenges. Our members are constantly taking on new challenges, which allows us to grow at a pace that would be unthinkable at other companies. If you want to get involved in a product that has an impact on society and are interested in mission-critical, scalable, and technically challenging systems, then PayPay is for you. I think you’ll find the environment you’re looking for with us. PayPay is definitely a place where you can reach your full potential and grow faster than you ever thought possible.

*The recruitment status is current at the time of the interview.

Author: Shinichi Morimoto / Editorial Supervisor: Mune / Managing Editor: Az
* Employees’ affiliations are those of the time of the interview.