Around the World with PayPay is a series of articles featuring our global workplace, with people gathered from approximately 40 countries around the world. The article consists of two parts: “FROM OUTSIDE” (published every first Thursday of the month) focuses on a comparison between Japan and the interviewee’s home country. “FROM INSIDE” (published every second Friday of the month) focuses on experiences within PayPay.
Continuing on from the last issue, we’ve sat down with Ruhin Raihan from Bangladesh!
Don’t forget to check out past issues too.
* The Japanese version of the article is available here.
Ruhin Mohammad Raihan
Backend Engineer
Country: Bangladesh / Years in Japan: 4
“Enjoy your life to the fullest or survive a boring life, choice is yours.”
How are payments done in your country?
I think Bangladesh is well advanced in this sector. bKash (SoftBank acquired 20% stake in bKash last November), Rocket, Nagad are some popular names in MFS (Mobile Financial Services) in my country. Balance recharge of prepaid sim-cards and money transfer (especially those who work in cities and send money to their family living in villages) alongside the code payment were the key factors behind the initial success. Now it offers other various services like Bill payments, loan, insurance, DPS (Deposit Pension Scheme), etc. bKash is planning to allow it’s users to invest in the stock market without a bank. Apart from MFS, very few people use credit cards due to safety reasons. People prefer debit cards more, but things are altering nowadays.
Why did you join PayPay?
First of all, I have been eyeing a Fintech career for a long time. I was impressed with kyash a few years back. Cash lover Japan was well behind in the cashless sector compared to other developed countries. I wanted to serve a wide range of people to the cashless revolution. I was astonished with the speed of PayPay. Global work environment was another reason for me to choose PayPay.
What’s the best thing about working at PayPay?
There are so many things, but I would say the best thing is WFA and flexible work culture which allows short breaks in between works. I didn’t feel much advantage of it before joining, but now I feel it is very helpful for a balanced work-life. I am currently staying in Morioka (with my wife until her PhD completes). Will be moving back to Tokyo in the later half of this year. These movements are possible only due to WFA. Also, interestingly, I feel my productivity also increased after moving to WFA. Another best thing is my team, FinnetKYC. Personally I call it “the leader producer team” as many FinnetKYC members are promoted to tech leads of other teams. This is due to the flat culture for decision making, leaders are not just considering everyone’s opinions, but also encouraging members to be engaged more in decision making.
Not only my team, I am impressed (specially during last December’s log4j issue) with the speed and dedication level of the whole product team. That’s the kind of place and people you would feel happier to work with.
Difference in work styles or corporate cultures
In my country, Friday is considered as the weekend for companies and Saturday is included in the weekend for government organizations. Friday is an important day for Muslims because there is a special prayer called Jummah at noon.
How are the internal communications at PayPay?
We use english for most of our team’s internal communications. We love to share existing and possible future problems and suggest different ideas to overcome them. We discuss and assign task priorities mostly during the daily sync meeting.
How is a normal working day for you at PayPay?
- 09:30 am
- Wake up, check the news (NHK and SmartNews app), grab a coffee.
- 10:00 am
- I check slack first for possible emergency situations followed by doing my usual tasks.
- 12:00 pm
- I take brunch.
- 1:00 pm
- Daily sync. I usually participate in the meetings standing in order to avoid sitting for a long time. I sometimes take a mini break in the afternoon. Sometimes do some errands, otherwise just a few push-ups. I always keep some snacks on my table.
- 7:00 pm
- I logout at 7pm usually. Sometimes I logout at 6pm when I complete the day’s tasks earlier.
What do you think was the biggest positive impact of PayPay in Japan?
Biggest impact PayPay has is convincing cash loving people into cashless priority. Not just the young peoples, PayPay is also popular among the old generation. Simplicity and convenience made PayPay be known to everyone within a very short time.
What would I tell people who’s applying to PayPay?
Join us if you have the desire to grow very fast, have a truly global work environment and contribute to society becoming cashless.
Hope you enjoyed reading about Ruhin!
See current job openings here
*The recruitment status is current at the time of the interview.
Special Thanks: Ruhin Mohammad Raihan / Editor: Anton & Az (PayPay Inside-Out Editorial Team) / Translation Editor: Language Communication Team
*Employees’ affiliations are as of the time of the interview.
