Welcome to the PayPay Leader Interview series, where we interview PayPay Group’s top executives to uncover their unique perspectives and personalities. In this edition, we had the pleasure of speaking with Yoshimitsu Sakui, the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of PayPay Securities.
Yoshimitsu Sakui
CTO, Corporate Officer & Division Head of Product Division, PayPay Securities
He joined an IT company in 2009, where he served as an iOS tech lead for new service launches and app development. He joined PayPay in December 2018 during the company’s initial 10-billion-yen campaign right after it started providing its service. After holding positions as the application team manager and senior manager on the front-end side, he was seconded to PayPay Securities in September 2023.
Currently, he oversees the launch of new teams and the transformation of technology and products as CTO and the head of the Product Division.
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A Passion for New Challenges: Journey to PayPay Securities
Can you tell us about your background and what led you to join PayPay Securities?
I’ve always been driven by a desire to create exciting products that can change society. I joined PayPay in December 2018, and over the next five years, we continuously updated the PayPay app on a weekly basis. This relentless effort has allowed us to evolve the product into one that is now used by over 60 million users.
Moreover, in terms of organizational development, we have successfully recruited over 100 talented engineers from around the globe, enabling us to achieve a variety of remarkable outcomes.
Seeing both the leaders and the members consistently deliver outstanding results beyond expectations, I felt a strong urge to seek a new challenge for myself. It was at this moment that the opportunity with PayPay Securities presented itself.
PayPay envisions evolving into a super app, focusing not only on payment services but also on financial services. Although PayPay securities was an unfamiliar territory for me, I decided to take this opportunity because I believed my development and management experience could make a significant impact. In September 2023, I was seconded to PayPay Securities as the CTO and the Division Head of the Product Division, where I lead the launch of new teams and the overhaul of technology and products.
Specialized Development for “First-Time Asset Management”
Can you describe the Product Division’s role at PayPay Securities?
The Product Division is comprised of five departments: Product Management, Design, Technology, QA, and IT Control (as of May 2024). The current organizational structure has been determined through discussions with team members, taking into account the state of development and operations. Moving forward, we will continue to adapt it flexibly in line with the evolution of our products.
The current Product Division has a well-balanced team with members with deep expertise in the securities domain alongside those who possess a strong knowledge of modern technologies and design principles. By blending these strengths, we aim to further enhance our organization by recruiting additional product team members from around the world.
What sets PayPay Securities apart from other companies?
One of our strengths is our direct access to 64 million PayPay users (*as of June 2024). The more we create high-quality products, the more likely users will engage with them, making the work incredibly rewarding for engineers.
Additionally, about 70% of our account holders are new to investing. With our guiding principle of “First-time asset management starts with PayPay Securities,” we prioritize user-friendly UI/UX to ensure that even beginners find our services easy to navigate.
Our team is filled with members eager to innovate and transform the financial sector. While there are laws and regulations that must be adhered to when it comes to the securities services, we provide an environment where you can continuously take on new challenges, and a lot of members possess the resilience to see things through to the end, even when faced with difficulties. I believe that is our significant strength.
What areas do you want to strengthen moving forward?
Our user base doubled to over 1 million in less than a year, thanks to the new NISA program, leading to a surge in traffic. When I joined in September 2023, we faced significant load challenges, which we addressed through repeated load testing and improvements, and now we have an environment capable of handling traffic many times greater than what it was at the time. As a service entrusted with managing users’ money, we will continue to improve our system performance to ensure they can use our services with peace of mind.
We offer various products, including a native app, mini apps, and a PC trading site. There is still room for improvement in ease of use, and we aim to significantly enhance our technology and products to be more accessible for beginners in asset management.
The Key to User-Centric Development: Communication with Members
What do you prioritize in daily communication?
I make sure to be approachable and create an environment where team members feel comfortable discussing any issues with me. Additionally, when they talk to me about their issues or concerns, I make a conscious effort to understand their situation and provide advice based on that.
With over 80% of our members working remotely, we’ve streamlined our manuals, meeting formats, and automated operations and monitoring to boost efficiency. As some things are better communicated face-to-face, I always turn on my camera in online meetings.
Also, I believe that remote work can be more effective when we take the time to meet in person and build relationships offline. Therefore, I regularly schedule office days where we can get together to talk and even go out together to eat.
What do you consider important for the growth of your members?
I make sure to have enough communication with them no matter how busy I am. I have a meeting every morning with department managers and tech leads before starting work. Regardless of the project’s size, I also join other project meetings to discuss development strategies with my members.
Setting personalized goals and tasks for each member is crucial for individual satisfaction. Watching them achieve what they previously couldn’t or had never experienced and exceed expectations with their outstanding performance brings me immense joy. I encourage them to try new things and embrace change without fearing failure. Even if they fail, as long as they did their best, I would not blame them. I even think they can put it on me.
What principles guide your work?
I focus on “putting users first” and “speed”. Putting users first is about creating products that users will choose and actually use. As an engineer, I have spent years responding to requests such as “I want this kind of UI/UX” or “Please create this feature.” I aim to remain an approachable engineer who people feel comfortable consulting to continue meeting their expectations. To achieve this, I will collaborate with my team to relentlessly pursue the question, “What is the best UI/UX?” and advance our product development accordingly.
At the same time, even if we manage to create a technically flawless product, it will ultimately go unused if it fails to meet the strategic and scheduling demands of business and marketing. Engaging in discussions with each department on the business side, understanding their perspectives, and developing the product with speed are also my priorities.
Aiming for Industry Leader
Tell us about your vision, mission, and future goals that you aspire to achieve with PayPay Securities
Our goal is to be the industry leader. To achieve this, it is essential for PayPay Securities as a whole to adopt a flexible approach and implement the best possible products and technologies so that we can achieve “putting users first” and “speed”. As a product company, we aim to build an organization with high technical prowess that can deliver results more swiftly than ever before. We will foster an environment where members involved in product development can actively and freely exchange ideas, focuses on user-centered UI/UX design, and takes ownership in developing products, surpassing previous levels of engagement and responsibility.
We aim to enhance diversity by welcoming members with varied backgrounds and experiences from Japan and abroad. PayPay’s remarkable growth over the past five years can be attributed to its inclusive environment, where members developed products through collaboratively brainstorming and sharing their ideas. Similarly, PayPay Securities will embrace the best practices and continually strives for better technology and a better world.
PayPay Securities will continue to grow and should be able to contribute more to the PayPay Group’s overall success. There are still some issues to address, but as we tackle those challenges, I hope to meticulously explain the reasons and background to the team, ensuring everyone understands and agrees rather than abruptly changing everything from the top down so that we can co-create a new world.
A Final Message to Our Readers
At the Product Division, we resonate with the vision of PayPay Securities and are passionate about transforming asset management. We aim to develop innovative products and user-friendly services, breaking away from traditional securities frameworks. Even if you lack experience in the field of securities, we would be excited to work with you as long as you are interested in PayPay Securities and are passionate about nurturing and developing our products with care and dedication.
Technical challenges and product improvements come with difficulties, but if you take ownership and commit to the work, you’ll thrive and make significant contributions to the business. We look forward to your applications!
Current job openings
*Job openings and employee affiliations are current as of the time of the interview.