PayPay launched in 2018 and has grown to become a mobile payment service with 66 million users in Japan (*as of October 2024), used by about two out of three smartphone users. Today, PayPay attracts a diverse group of engineers from approximately 50 countries and regions.
The India Dev Speaks series shares the real voices of the unique members who work at PayPay India, PayPay’s overseas development center.
This time, we asked Kapil Chandel, PayPay India’s first app engineer, to walk us through some of the challenges and insights he experienced as a new employee and what makes working at PayPay so rewarding.
Kapil Chandel
iOS Developer, PayPay India
Hello, My name is Kapil. I was born in Himachal Pradesh and raised in Delhi.
I joined PayPay India in July 2024 after more than 12 years of experience as a mobile app developer, where I gained extensive expertise through projects in a variety of areas including e-commerce, banking, education, and service apps. I am excited to be part of a team that is devoted to developing secure payment services by leveraging cutting-edge technology to improve the convenience for our 66 million users in Japan!
Table of Contents
Joining PayPay
I got to know PayPay India when I decided that my next challenge would be in the payment area. There was serendipity for me.
Kapil：
I believe it was fate that led me to become an app engineer. When I was a student, mobile technology was already a worldwide trend, and I was advised by a senior student to pursue a career in mobile app development. After completing my studies, I joined several companies to gain experience, and when I thought about my next career move, I decided that I would like to work in the payment area, since I had knowledge of finance from my past involvement in banking app development.
It was then that a post by PayPay India on social media suddenly caught my attention. PayPay India, the overseas development center of PayPay, was looking for an app developer. PayPay is a financial infrastructure used by over 60 million people in Japan, and I thought that this would give me the opportunity to work in a global team that uses cutting-edge technology to create the future of digital payments in a progressive and dynamic market. It fits exactly my skill set and aspirations, and I couldn’t help but feel that this was the place for me.
First step as the first app engineer
The journey so far after joining the company has involved building trust by initially taking on small tasks and gradually expanding the scope of activities.
Kapil：
I joined PayPay India’s first app engineer. After onboarding to the company, I was assigned as a consumer app member in the App Operation team. After four months, I am now also in charge of releasing consumer apps. Aside from this, I also develop some parts of the merchant app.
My missions span a wide range, including app development, creating interface in collaboration with the UX/UI designers, building applications with robust security measures, and testing and quality assurance. In addition to development work, it is important to follow trends in mobile app development, work closely with stakeholders, and gather feedback from users to improve functionality.
PayPay’s payment system is complex and consists of various functions such as merchant system, user data, and mini-apps. When I initially joined, the first thing I did was understanding the code and I started contributing by working on the mini Apps. Which have some scope of updating code to the latest libraries and bug fixing and testing the changes, Which help me understanding feature and code architecture with this I have also contributed to CICD by fixing some build failures.
Similar practices we have followed for merchant App.
The scope of my work gradually expanded as my colleagues saw where I can contribute and entrusted me with the job, and I believe this was the right process to understand the development environment.
A Fresh Perspective on PayPay’s product quality and processes
Firsthand experience of PayPay’s development environment emphasizing both “speed” and “quality”
Kapil：
PayPay’s products is very particular about attention to details and user experience in terms of “quality” and “process.” Our development process has a strong framework for quality, including “automated testing,” “continuous integration,” and “code reviews,” and with this, we are able to maintain the reliability of our products under a fast-paced development cycle. Our upmost emphasis is on delivering products while meeting the requirements for security and performance, which are essential for a financial platform.
When I first started working with the App Operation team, I witnessed the pursuit of “quality” and “speed” in our fast-paced development environment when we released a new version of the app with important library updates. There was a bug in the library that we could not detect in the test phase but surfaced through a user report made on social media after the release.
“Our system should always be up and never down.” This is a common sentiment that we always share. While we are under great pressure to provide fixes as quickly as possible, the confidential nature of a financial platform like PayPay makes it impossible to compromise the stability and security of the app. Under these circumstances, we used performance monitoring tools integrated into our codes to quickly identify issues. We then worked with our colleagues to find the best solution and implemented the fixes as quickly as possible while maintaining high quality. The record speed at which the patch was deployed and ensuring both speed and reliability in the process made me truly feel how much PayPay values both “speed” and “quality.”
Challenge and Awareness
Levering app engineer experience and skills to contribute to PayPay
Kapil：
What I feel at work is that my colleagues at PayPay are passionate about developing the best products. I would like to learn from them and contribute in various ways.
Since I am involved in multiple projects at the same time, one of my challenges is managing workload. Another challenge is that sometimes it is difficult to understand the UI, even after looking at the code, because the app features are displayed in Japanese. For this reason, I recently started to learn Japanese lol.
Looking at PayPay as a newcomer, I feel that there are areas in the development process that can be further improved. For example, we can expand test coverage by incorporating more advanced performance monitoring tools for iOS to identify potential issues earlier in the development cycle and fine-tune app performance more effectively. We can also streamline the release process by introducing more efficient test automation for new features and reduce the overall time to service-in without compromising quality.
I would like to use my experience to continue to provide value while meeting the demands of our users by constantly incorporating new technologies.
Work Environment and Culture
An open environment where people respect each other regardless of job titles and exchange opinions at all times
Kapil：
PayPay India’s work style is basically to come to the office, but these days, the mainstream is to come to the office four days a week and work from home one day a week.
I also like the work culture here. We respect and honor each other, and everyone has an open mind and exchanges opinions regardless of job titles or whether that person is your supervisor or a team member. Colleagues are friendly and the company emphasizes maintaining a good work-life balance.
I personally resonate with PayPay’s core values, PayPay 5 senses. I especially like the phrase “Be Sincere To be Professional. Professionalism is very important, and finding solutions and addressing issues such as optimizing app performance and debugging a nagging problem is very motivating when you realize that your work is helping people’s lives.
Message to Indian Developers
Exciting experience with PayPay, shaping the future of finance from digital payments!
Kapil：
PayPay is a dynamic and fast-growing fintech company shaping the future of digital payment and financial services in Japan. As a developer, you will work on fast-paced, innovative products that can have a real impact on users in Japan.
Being involved in product development here gives you many opportunities that you cannot experience with Indian companies. In addition, you will be exposed to cutting-edge technology and tackle complex issues with your technical skills. As an app engineer, being able to challenge yourself towards innovation by trying new things is both motivating and rewarding. The career growth opportunities for those who join us in the future are immeasurable.
Nothing but exciting opportunities await you at PayPay. This is the place for you!
*Job openings and employee affiliations are current as of the time of the interview.