India Dev Speaks vol. 9 – Talking with Engineers about Working at Pay2DC

Launched in 2018, PayPay has grown into a mobile payment service with 62 million users (as of February 2024), or one in every two smartphone users in Japan. And now it’s become a diverse workforce with engineers from roughly 50 different countries and regions.
The Pay2 Dev Speaks series gives the latest on the Pay2 Development Center (or Pay2DC), PayPay’s first overseas development center launched in India in October 2022, through the unique voices of the team on the ground.

In this issue, we interviewed four engineers from the Gift Voucher Team about the fun of working at Pay2DC.

*Pay2 Development Center changed its name to PayPay India on May 30, 2024

Reasons for joining the company

Fintech is closely related to users’ daily lives and therefore full of challenges and opportunities for growth

Abhinav：
While looking for a job where I could further grow, I learned through a friend that PayPay was setting up a development center in India. I already knew about PayPay and supported their working style and culture, so I immediately asked that friend to refer me to the company. The opportunity to work on payment systems was very appealing, and designing complex, large-scale systems and contributing to opensource projects was also in line with the career path I had in mind. So naturally, I was excited about working at Pay2DC.

Sunny：
I was looking for the next step in my career in the fast-growing payments industry, when I found the position I wanted at PayPay and applied to the Product Team in Japan. But then I decided to join Pay2DC when I learned that a similar position was available at PayPay’s Indian development center.

Deepika：
I wanted a dynamic and learning environment where I would be challenged every day. Plus, I have long been interested in fintech, which greatly contributes to enriching people’s lives. PayPay is a payment app with 62 million users in Japan, so I decided to join Pay2DC because I thought I would have the opportunity to both personally grow and contribute to the company and society by being one of the starting members of the company.

Deepak：
The clincher in my decision to join Pay2DC was how my career direction aligned with the mission of the company. I was intrigued by Pay2DC’s commitment to innovation and reputation within the industry, and also learned about Pay2DC’s dynamic environment and collaborative culture through the hiring process. I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to participate in the launch of a new office in an organization with which I share the same values.

Impressions before & after joining

Good working environment, just as we had heard from engineers around us

Sunny：
I had friends and colleagues who worked at PayPay and who told me about the company, so there were no surprises when I joined Pay2DC. Pay2DC is still a small team and we all work together in the office, so we have a supportive environment. If you get stuck on something, you never have to go through it alone, and you can always reach out to colleagues around you.

Deepika：
I also heard about PayPay from a friend who works at Paytm, so I joined the company with a positive impression. In fact, Pay2DC is a motivating environment. We are still a small organization and most are new to the company, so we are all still learning and simultaneously building a cooperative and constructive relationship.
I think one special attribute of Pay2DC is that even when we face difficulties, we have colleagues who can provide solutions and who we can learn a lot from.

Work environment and culture

Various workshops and activities. Each member’s favorite 5 senses.

Deepak：
We have a knowledge sharing session every two weeks, which has been very helpful because senior members share with us the issues they’ve faced during implementation, practical solutions, and useful implementation know-how.
We also actively conduct team building activities, and we celebrated Independence Day on August 15 and Diwali together.

Abhinav：
And at the end of each month, we celebrate the people who were born that month by having lunch together and eating cake. These occasions are good opportunities to learn about the personalities and perspectives of our colleagues.

Deepika：
In terms of corporate culture, we have a common understanding of what the company values through PayPay 5 senses. Two of my favorites are “Speed is our bet on the market” and “Ego is not welcome, communication is necessary.” By communicating with each other, we can quickly solve problems and provide value to users swiftly, which leads to personal growth and the growth of our products. So I think the combination of those two maxims are important.

Sunny：
I like the phrase “Be sincere to be professional.”
I want to continue upskilling as a professional, and I believe the most important things in work are to take our job seriously, fulfill our responsibilities, and deliver value to users.

Experiencing firsthand the value PayPay provides to users in Japan

The influence of PayPay gave us a stronger sense of ownership and motivation for work

Deepak：
It has been an excellent experience while using PayPay in Japan. The ease of use that PayPay users have to top up the wallet is really commendable.Going to Japan helped me appreciate that PayPay is indeed the best fintech app in Japan. In fact, I used PayPay every day when I traveled to Japan.

Sunny：
Yeah, I agree. While an overview of what features are available can be gathered even in India, what I experienced during my business trip to Japan was the immensity of PayPay’s influence. I was able to feel firsthand how much PayPay has penetrated everyday life in Japan, which aspects of day to day activities we are changing through our development efforts, and the impact a failure or any other problem would cause.

Deepika：
It was a meaningful experience to see users actually using PayPay. I felt very proud and at the same time motivated to deliver more user-friendly products.

Challenges & growth unique to Pay2DC

Challenging projects and the freedom to explore new methods expedite our growth

Abhinav：
I came from a completely different field and had never worked in a 2C service before, so there was a lot to learn, from the user-first approach to unfamiliar tools and technologies. It was a big challenge to overcome the skill gap in two months, despite the support of managers and colleagues.
It is both a great pleasure and a challenge to continue helping improve the quality of our products in this fast-paced environment.

Deepak：
My first assignment was a project on mobile application automation. I learned a lot because it was something I was not familiar with.
Like that, you learn something new every day at Pay2DC and get to do work that is outside your comfort zone. We have a startup culture, and the work here is both fast and conducive to growth.
I also like the freedom where we can formulate new ideas and try new implementation methods. While we have a process in place at Pay2DC, we are looking for better ones, so there are many opportunities to explore and experiment, which is a great experience.

Deepika：
Employing my skills here has marked an unparalleled and demanding expedition.
Regarding Gift Voucher, we’ve engaged in numerous projects over a brief period, constructing products from the ground up, adhering to stringent project timelines, orchestrating product launches. As a cohesive team, we witnessed the features going live and eagerly anticipated user engagement.
While encountering challenges, the collaborative efforts of teams from India and Japan successfully addressed them. All in all, this journey has been truly enriching.

A message to developers in India

The fun of taking ownership, creating from scratch, and delivering to users

Sunny：
The most important thing I want to emphasize is that Pay2DC is not your typical offshore development center. At Pay2DC, we build products from scratch and operate them responsibly. As a backend engineer, you will be developing for a large-scale service used by 62 million people and the satisfaction you derive from knowing that your work impacts that many users is massive. I couldn’t ask for more.
Recently, we delivered significant value by creating new use cases for services that our team has taken ownership of and is developing. If you are seeking that kind of thrill, then Pay2DC is the place for you.

*Job openings and employee affiliations are current as of the time of the interview.