The “Professionals” series showcases talented experts who support PayPay Group’s operations.
In this issue, we interviewed Iwamaru-san from the Enterprise Promotion Department and asked him about the memorable projects he worked on and what he values at work.
Yo Iwamaru
Online Promotion Team, Enterprise Promotion Department, Sales Strategy Division
I joined a major internet industry company in 2016 as a new graduate, and was engaged in customer support, web direction, and project management. I joined PayPay in May 2021, hoping to build a career in project management and promotion.
Moving to PayPay to Seek Opportunities for Upskilling in Operations Management in a Fast-Paced Environment
How did you come to join PayPay and what was the biggest reason?
At the IT company that I previously worked in fresh out of university, I was engaged in customer support and web direction work in the online banking business department and project management in the telecommunication service department. After three job rotations in five years, I came to realize that I wanted to develop my career in project and operations management. As I also started thinking after Covid that I wanted to go back to my hometown, I decided to change jobs.
I chose PayPay because I could improve my skills in operations management at a fast-growing company.
Tell us about the mission of your department and your responsibilities
The Online Promotion Team is in charge of creating new operation flows related to online merchants, improving existing flows, handling communication to our sales team, merchants, and agents, and responding to inquiries from the sales team.
We provide support to ensure that our merchants and agents do not get into trouble and that our sales activities run smoothly.
Eliminating Merchant Management Bottlenecks through Proactive Engagement
Which project do you remember the most?
A project to update an internal system used for merchant management comes to mind.
PayPay’s merchants are divided into two categories: those who sign a contract directly with PayPay and those who introduce PayPay through an agent—payment service providers like those who provide cart systems.
However, the merchant management system was built for the directly contracted merchants with no consideration for agents, which did not allow us to have an accurate understanding on the merchants contracted through agents. In order to create a momentum for updating the system to accommodate those merchants, I started off with encouraging other stakeholders to get involved. Then, we successfully built a master of agent information and developed it to support qualified invoices in preparation for the start of the invoice system. It resulted in reducing manual work and saving about 320 man-hours per month.
What did you find most challenging?
The most difficult part of the process was to carefully check and select the data to register in the master.
We were able to extract a high-level list that was “almost accurate,” but we still needed to look into hundreds of records. We checked with the sales team the ones that didn’t get sorted out by the Enterprise Promotion Department and the Partner Support Team. For the ones that even sales couldn’t confirm, we asked our agents. This whole process took about two months.
What do you find rewarding about your job?
Being able to get involved in the entire process of merchant services, from requirement definition to launch, operation, and improvement. I get to see how the requests take shape over the course of the process starting from designing a new service and gathering requirements. I find it especially fulfilling because I can easily see the fruits of my work.
I also like the way we are close to the sales team, which makes it easy to get feedback after launch and identify areas for improvement, allowing us to respond quickly.
What’s the vibe like in your team?
We have daily team meetings, and make time to chat in the team twice a week, which encourages everyone to talk to each other even in a remote environment, plus we can get questions and concerns resolved fast. We also hold study sessions within the team to share information about our respective responsibilities so that everyone knows who is involved in what.
Moving Ahead as a Team when Solo Effort Does Not Work
What do you value in your work at PayPay?
If I am to choose from PayPay 5 senses, it would be “Ego is not welcome, communication is necessary.” I feel that I was able to move ahead with the project to revamp the merchant management system because I involved other stakeholders, as well as provided them with inputs to help them understand the importance of the project and the need for development. We also received suggestions for further improvements from product in the middle of the project, which made me keenly aware of the importance of close communication in proceeding with any assignment.
Tell us about your goals and visions for the future
In agent management operations, there are still a lot of issues that need to be addressed. I hope to remove barriers and bottlenecks for sales reps so their activities can proceed smoothly. On a more personal note, I would like to become reliable enough for people to say, “Iwamaru-san is my go-to person for questions,” or “I’m in good hands with Iwamaru-san.”
A message for our readers, please!
PayPay provides a stage for you to take on new challenges in the fintech industry where innovations are unceasing. Also, there are a lot of opportunities for you to take the initiative, which is very rewarding. We have an environment where we can communicate closely with each other, so there is no need reason for worry. If you’re interested, we welcome you to join us!
Current job openings
*Job openings and employee affiliations are current as of the time of the interview.