What makes UPI a crowd favorite in payment modes?

• Whether it is day or night, you can instantly transfer money from anywhere
• Your UPI ID is like secure location coordinates for your money as opposed to bank account details
• Its double-layered security – mobile device PIN and UPI PIN – makes transactions extra secure

While UPI is a safe mode of payment, as the technology evolves, so do the security threats around it. To keep your money from falling into the wrong hands, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) talks about new forms of fraud and ways we can stay safe from them. Toward this, NCPI has launched an awareness campaign called UPI Safety Shield to protect digital transactions in India.

What is UPI Safety Shield?

NPCI introduced UPI Safety Shield to educate consumers about safe UPI usage. These five safety tips can help you protect your money and personal information from fraud and unauthorized access.

1. Always verify the UPI ID of the person before making a payment

UPI ID is a unique identifier that can be shared with anyone to receive money. Whenever you are paying someone via UPI, make sure you verify their UPI ID before making the payment. This ensures you only send money to the people intended.

2. Enter UPI PIN on the UPI PIN page only

UPI ID and UPI PIN are two different things. Your UPI PIN is the most important security measure to protect your transactions. Never share your UPI PIN or OTP with anyone. And make sure you enter your UPI PIN on the UPI PIN page only.

3. Enter PIN = Money deducted

Always remember, you don’t need to enter your UPI PIN/password or scan a QR code to receive money. If someone asks you to do so, it is a red flag, and you need to cancel the transaction immediately.

4. Always check SMS alerts after transactions

After every transaction, you will receive an SMS from your bank confirming the amount credited to or debited from your account. You should always verify the amount and notify your bank if it is correct.

5. Rely on the help section in the UPI app

If you face any transaction-related issues, you can use the help section within the UPI app itself. The NPCI has trained experts who are available 24×7 to assist you with any concerns or issues regarding UPI transactions.

Stay aware. Stay safe.

UPI Safety Shield is a great initiative by the NPCI to ensure users have a safe and secure payment experience. RBI kehta hai, taking these few simple measures can help you steer clear off of scams.

The post UPI Safety Shield: How to Stay Secure While Making UPI Payments appeared first on PayU Blog.

Financial services were one of the first industries to see the potential of the Big Data revolution and the surge of innovation that has accompanied it – including Artificial Intelligence (AI). AI is a powerful technology that has already been used extensively in the financial services industry. It has a lot of potential to make a positive difference if organizations use it with enough caution, wisdom, and care.

FinTech firms are more likely to utilize AI to launch new products and services, whereas incumbents are more likely to improve the existing ones. A growing number of FinTechs are taking a product-oriented perspective to AI implementation, delivering AI-enabled solutions as a service.

For the FinTech industry, AI is offering novel solutions. AI can evaluate enormous amounts of data incrementally over time via machine learning. Artificial intelligence is being utilized to recognize fraudulent activities unusual transactions and overall provide a rise to handling sensitive financial data – all with a lower possibility of privacy risk – by identifying suspect behaviors.

Why Is FinTech Lagging?

Finance, like other sectors, has already undergone several changes as a result of the digital transformation, including information sharing, financial consumer and shareholder engagement, and increased data analytics. 

However, a significant reason is that most institutions are still restricting themselves and operating in minor ways. Some of this may be owing to the regulation established in the sector. Additionally, it will not be easy to change. However, our perceptions and behaviors account for a significant portion of the lag.

Enter into the digital domain and make greater use of the resources available to you. The earlier we conform to how the financial scene has already altered, the quicker we see the results and keep pace with other technologically advanced industries.

The Need For AI in FinTech

In FinTech, AI can assist businesses in achieving their growth goals, an advantage over competing and becoming more accessible to their customers. It can also help them in lowering operational costs and streamlining internal operations. Customers can benefit from this by better managing their finances.

Here are a few instances where FinTech is helpful:

Security & Fraud Detection

FinTech apps provide new and innovative ways for users to digest information, resulting in better financial decision-making. Data analysis through applications becomes simple because of machine learning and visualization tools, translating it into understandable insights.

Offers Better Security

Financial cybercrime will rise as digitalization procedures become more popular worldwide. Thanks to AI, users and businesses can now protect themselves and their credentials.

Algorithms can detect questionable conduct and, even further, alert consumers. Because these technologies can closely and constantly monitor abnormal trends, there is no need to stay attentive 24/7.

Personalized Banking Apps Powered by AI

Many banking applications provide tailored financial guidance to help users meet their financial objectives, monitor their income and expenditure, and more. AI-powered FinTech developments are primarily responsible for this personalization.

Customer Service

The best AI application is bots. ML algorithms have only gradually begun to gain traction, even though they have been here for some while. One can observe the rise of intelligent chatbots that can communicate with consumers and respond to a range of customer queries on a real-time basis.

Asset Management

For a long time, investment funds have depended on complicated algorithms to create reliable forecasts and models. Several asset and wealth management processes have been restructured, and additional services such as the introduction of wealth management tools.

App users may now access their bank statements and conduct important transactions on any of their gadgets. Most significantly, AI and machine learning technologies give users the option of reducing the rate of intermediaries. As a result, asset management cuts expenses by eliminating redundant processes.

AI-powered Payments

Transaction banking is a sector with the ideal conditions for AI to thrive.

In the payment business, artificial intelligence can drastically reduce fraud detection. An AI-powered payment system calculates a risk score based on various parameters. The payment gateway sector can now execute large transactions with greater precision and lower mistake rates thanks to AI.

Use Cases of FinTech Innovation Driven By AI

As per the FinTech 5×5 survey, 67 percent of FinTech organizations believe AI will significantly impact the industry over the next decade. Ignoring a technology transition in the finance industry means depriving your company of the prospects for proper growth and development that AI in FinTech may offer.

ZestFinance has used AI to construct an automation interface that enables FinTech firms to screen potential loans more quickly. The software assesses the risks and provides employees with a rapid image of whether a potential borrower is trustworthy.

Payoneer and Skrill, both online payment providers, use AI to evaluate complex data.

Crest Financial Group uses the DataRobot machine learning platform to study client activity, and create predictions to detect and prevent suspicious transactions.

Privatbank, a prominent Ukrainian bank, employs AI-powered chatbots that utilize Natural Language Processing to address fundamental questions of users and give advice using the bank’s different services.

These solutions have the same purpose – to boost FinTech organizations’ productivity. You can considerably reduce the stress on your human personnel by deploying data analysis automated processes and chatbots.

Conclusion

Because of artificial intelligence in FinTech, companies in the financial services sector have entered a new age of progress and expansion. These technologies are becoming increasingly important in a wide range of processes. This is the right time to leverage the possibilities of machine learning and AI as a driving factor for your FinTech company’s survival and prosperity.

The post How Has AI Entered The FinTech Space And Its Management? appeared first on PayU Blog.

Shared Success: The Digital Shopping Ecosystem

However, it would be wrong to credit only the lockdown for e-commerce successes such as Nykaa. It goes way back to demonetisation, which ensured that digital payment systems seeped into the smaller parts of India. It also highlights India’s simultaneous growth of the digital payment infrastructure.

Figure this. There has been a five-fold growth in digital payments from 1,004 crores in 2016-17 to 5,554 crores in 2020-21. The digital ecosystem, comprising e-commerce and digital payments, has only been increasing, making India a promising market for the payment gateway industry.

Payment Gateway Services in India: A Slice of History

Until 2018-19, the payment gateway industry grew in the world and in India, but there was a lag back home. It all began with the advent of Billdesk in 2000. However, it was just a surface-scratching start, and a lot was left to be seen. With the gradual growth of e-commerce, consumers wanted convenience much beyond home delivery. They also wanted security as data privacy concerns have only heightened over the years (Thank you, Mark

But now, the Indian payment gateway industry is expected to reach a CAGR of 15% from 2020 through 2025.

Let us look at the key factors catalysing this development, apart from the apparent rise of e-commerce and online shopping as a habit of the masses.

Demonetisation: The Disguised Blessing

Paytm was the first and biggest success story to come out of this move, with its customer base expanding from 8,00,000 to 5 million in just a year. As everyone from a chaat wala on a hill station to supermarkets and malls started accepting wallet payments, an ecosystem of digital payments began taking shape. Wallet apps, UPI apps, payment gateways, online creditors, and others jumped in to tap the untapped to solve new problems and create new experience

Locking Down and Opening Up

While the lockdown pushed the world economy to the edge of a cliff, a number of trends that are slowly becoming the ‘new normal’ emerged. In order to avoid physical stores and make up for shutdowns, the market for digital payments expanded to even senior citizens who made their first online purchases in 202

Consumers across geographies began exhibiting similar purchase patterns. The need for convenient cross-border payments shot up. Payment gateways promised not just convenience but also security and speed. The post-2019 consumer seeks one-click/one-touch payments, easy tracking, multiple updates, simple return processes, data privacy, and a host of other benefits.

That is a huge reason why e-commerce and payment gateway services in India have been growing parallelly as industries in our growing economy.

The Sarkaar Effect ft. RBI for Payment Gateway Providers

The Indian government and the central bank have been consistently pushing digital payments since the demonetisation days. Here’s a list of the key decisions/steps in this regard.
The RBI launched the RBI-DPI (Digital Payments Index) in January 2021 to signal the extent of payment digitisation across India. The parameters include (with weightages in percentage)

• Payment enablers: 25%
• Demand-side payment infrastructure factors: 10%
• Supply-side payment infrastructure factors: 10%
• Payment performance: 45%
• Consumer centricity: 5%
• The government announced exemption of MDR (Merchant Discount Rate) charges on UPI transactions.
• The RBI’s March 2020 guidelines of Payment Aggregators and Payment Gateways protect customer funds apart from recognizing aggregators as authorised entities, granting them flexibility and control with regard to operations and funds management.
• The NPCI (National Payments Corporation of India) plans to collaborate with the income tax department to launch UPI tax payments.
• The NHAI (National Highways Authority of India) introduced FASTag for digital and contactless toll payments for drivers on national highways.
• The RBI is reviewing ‘interoperability’ guidelines for the use of UPI QR codes in ATMs across India.
• In 2019, the FDI policy for B2B e-commerce businesses went through changes and clarifications. 100% FDI is allowed for marketplace modelled, automatic route B2B e-commerce businesses.
• With key steps, such as post offices being linked to the core banking system, setting up for new digital banking units, the upcoming, much-talked-about ‘crypto rupee’, etc., announced in Budget 2022, digital inclusion is about to receive a huge impetus. The digital payments ecosystem is only going to receive a shot in the arm with the inclusion of a growing customer base.

The Bigger Picture

The Budget 2022 highlighted the FinTech ecosystem and a digital economy. With initiatives for promoting start-ups and MSMEs with tax benefits and more, a greater number of e-commerce businesses will likely emerge, boosting the need for payment gateway services in India.

Words like ‘vibrant’, ‘robust’, and ‘vast’ are doing the rounds appraising India’s digital economy. As one of the largest internet consumers in the world, we were bound to reach here.

What Next?

We now need to keep a close eye on how digital payment gateway providers rise to the occasion and create, develop, strategise, convert, and market world-class solutions for the Indian millennial, GenZ, boomer, and senior citizen alike. It poses a mammoth challenge with our diverse demographics, socio-cultural strata, and psychographics.

With an extra-conducive environment, innovation brimming in FinTech, and the masses adopting newer products by the day, we can safely reckon a revolution for the digital payments ecosystem, and consequently, the payment gateway market too.

The post Tapping into Emerging Markets: How India’s Payment Gateway Industry is Poised to Change the World appeared first on PayU Blog.

Selection Process   

The selection process was quite unique and practical assignments were given. This was a new experience for me and showed the company’s culture of valuing the quality of work.   

Round 1 – Assignment Round   

This round started off with multiple questions based on product thinking, guesstimates, metrics, and related topics. I would be lying if I don’t mention the fact that I enjoyed completing the assignment.  

Round 2 – Interview Round  

Post the assignment round, I had an interview process with Naveen Athresh – Sr. Director Product Management-Process, IXD/UX – Merchant XP, PayU. It was 45 minutes long interview, but was more of a discussion, about my past experiences, the reasoning behind the answers I had written in the assignment round, why do I want to enter the product management field, and other related questions. After the interview round with Naveen, my wish to be part of PayU grew, as I wished to work in a company with such receptive leaders at the helm.  

Round 3 – HR Round   

After completion of the interview round, the final round was the HR round with Denzil Jose. It was more of a general round, the questions revolved around my interests, hobbies, and other general things.   

The entire process took 7-10 days to complete. I got my confirmation of selection through email and call by Denzil. I was very excited to begin a new journey in my career.  

Post Onboarding Journey (Commencement of Internship Project)  

Right after my onboarding, I got a project which’s interesting and challenging at the same time. Nevertheless, during the entire duration of the internship, the mentors helped the team extensively. Both the product mentors (Anant Jain) and engineering mentors (Chirag and Shashi Kumar) took out time from their busy schedules to interact with us and guide us during the project. The mentors treated us as part of PayU (and not as interns) and their faith and belief in us, boosted our confidence to work and give our best. PayU also offered me the opportunity to work on a different project, alongside the current project, indicating their trust in an intern. I worked on 2 different projects alongside each other, which turned out to be an enriching experience for me.   

During the entire duration as an intern, I worked with different teams, learned how to coordinate with multiple stakeholders, and prioritize from among given multiple options. Working as part of the team, we made great progress in the project. It was shown to the senior leadership team (including Manas, Naveen, Swaroop) who appreciated our efforts and believing in our abilities.   

Naveen and Swaroop also kept regular track of the work done on the projects and also provided their feedbacks, helping the team to improve upon the projects. Within a record time frame of three months, I joined PayU as an Associate Product Manager. The guidance from the mentors and leaders, work culture and the exciting projects make it the company where I can learn and grow, while at the same time be a part of an exciting sector.   

My advice for you all is “Work your way through the opportunity coming your way. You may not find the answers at the moment, but you’ll surely connect the dots later”  

Thanks for reading 🙂   

Hoping the best comes your way in your product journey!    

The post Journey of an Intern to Product Manager at PayU | Ayush Rawat appeared first on PayU Blog.

I started my journey with PayU as a Product Management Intern. I transitioned from research into the product, and ever since I got a flavour of product management, I knew that it was something that I wanted to pursue. Hence, despite having an on-campus consultancy offer, I kept pursuing product management roles. One of the biggest challenges I faced while applying for product roles off-campus was the lack of hands-on experience in products. All my internships had been in Research & Development (R&D), and product management was an altogether different ball game for me. Nevertheless, I was determined and passionate enough to start, no matter how late I was.

I decided to apply for internships and get an insight into the DNA of the role before applying for full-time positions. In just three months, I ended up landing two product management internships and a full-time product analyst offer.

How I ended up being an Associate Product Manager at PayU is a story worth sharing. PayU started hiring product interns for the first time, and I was lucky to get that opportunity. I knew that the problems and the scale that I’d get to work on at PayU would be immense, and this is when I knew that I had to seize this opportunity.

The hiring process was pretty organized. I saw a post about an internship opening at PayU on LinkedIn and emailed my resume and profile. Unlike my experience with other companies, where you usually need a referral to get an interview in the first place, PayU followed a very diligent hiring process. I didn’t need a referral, and I heard back from them in a few days. It reflects how they value employee work culture and seek to increase accessibility and diversity in their hiring process!

Following this profile-based preliminary screening, I had four other rounds:

Round 1: General Introduction Round

This was a general chat with Naveen Athresh – Senior Director, Product, IXD, Process design at PayU. It was a nice 30-min long conversation about my past experiences, my inclination towards the product, product vision at PayU, and what to expect from the internship. Knowing that I’d be getting a chance to be mentored by some of the most experienced leaders in the product ecosystem kept me going.

Round 2: Assignment Round

I was notified that I’d be given an assignment to work on. However, what I didn’t expect was that the assignment would be so diverse. There were questions on product thinking and design thinking, guesstimates, metrics, and general questions about a day in the life of a Product Manager (PM). There were 12 questions in total, and I had about 6-7 hours to submit the assignment.

The questions measured both the breadth and the depth of one’s product knowledge, and I thoroughly enjoyed working on them.

Round 3: Product Thinking Round

This turned out pretty interesting! I was interviewed by Saurabh Kumar – Associate Director of Merchant Experience at PayU. He asked me about my favourite product, how I thought about metrics and my understanding of user personas. I was asked to redesign Instagram for the older generation.

It was an exciting conversation, and we ended up discussing merchant experience and new product initiatives at PayU.

Round 4: HR Round

The final round was with HR. It was mainly to gauge if I was a good fit at PayU. It was more of a conversation on my interests, who I am, and my hobbies outside of work.

The entire process lasted about a month, and finally, on one fine afternoon, an email popped up in my inbox bearing the good news. I was extended an internship offer at PayU. I was super delighted to begin this journey.

Transition from an Intern to a Full-Time Product Manager

But the story just began here. My experience at PayU as an intern was phenomenal. Most of the companies don’t offer much ownership to the interns, and they are usually hired to help with the day-to-day tasks of the firm. Luckily, at PayU, I was given the opportunity to work on an Innovation Track Project. And guess what? I owned the entire project and was responsible for building it from scratch and scaling it from 0-1. One of the reasons I like Product Management is that it gives complete ownership of a problem that one wishes to solve. At PayU, I got to exercise that kind of ownership to the fullest. The zeal was immense.

It was a 6-month long internship, but fortunately, I was extended a full-time Associate Product Manager offer after 3-months. I chose PayU primarily because of two reasons:

I loved the work at PayU.

More than that, I really loved the work culture and the people with whom I worked. My mentors were there to support me throughout, and it felt like being at the right place.

All I ever wanted was to kickstart my career in Product. I was fortunate enough to have a breakthrough at PayU, a happy ending to my placement process, and an amazing start to a new chapter of my professional life.

Fast forward to today; it’s been just over two months since I’ve been a part of PayU. Each day has something new in store for me, and I couldn’t have asked for a better learning experience.

So finally, what’s the biggest takeaway? Be patient and be persistent. Sooner or later, you’ll complete your jigsaw.

Thanks for reading 🙂

Wishing you all the best with your product journey!

The post My Product Head Start at PayU | Muskaan Bhambri appeared first on PayU Blog.

Having a degree in Mechatronics, my immediate job prospects were in the fields of automation and robotics. My internship experience too was limited to manufacturing and automation organizations like Eicher, L&T, Bharat Forge, JCB, Jaguar-Land Rover, Shridhan Automation, Eaton, and so on. While these experiences honed and enriched my learning, I was embarking on a completely new domain of FinTech with my first product-based role. FinTech, being a fast-growing modern industry with innovations first mindset checked all boxes for me.

I leveraged the guidance of my mentors to help me understand all that the job entails which, in turn, kindled my entrepreneurial spirit to build products. Though I was still wrapping my head around the nuances associated with the job title, the excitement of being part of a team that will build new financial products made me apply for the same.

Selection Process

After applying for the job, when most companies take up weeks and months to get back to you, PayU surprisingly contacted me within a few days. The professionalism they displayed with their warm undertones and the efficiency level kept me hinged during the rest of the interview process. Post the screening, the hiring for the role of PM included the following rounds:

Case Study Round

The case study round comprised of 3 sections – Design Questions, Product Management Questions, and Guesstimates. I was given questions for which I had to find solutions using creative thinking and problem solving within 7-8 hours. The assignment I was given required the analysis of content from different disciplines felt quite satisfying.

Product Thinking and Discussion Round

After the two preliminary rounds, I had to attend an interview with Saurabh Kumar, Associate Director-Products, now also my current manager, which felt like an insightful discussion more than an interview. Here, we focused on the how and why referring to the ways and reasons of the case study I did in the previous round.

Leadership Round

The leadership meet was one of the best parts of the hiring process. I was interviewed by Naveen Athresh who is one of the Top-100 Leaders of Forbes India and Sr. Director, Product, Merchant Experience, IXD, and Process Design at PayU. His statement regarding how one should think in fundamentals always by understanding the customers and their user problems before looking for problem solutions has stayed with me ever since. He continues to be my guru and inspires me to reach my goals.

HR Round

For the final round, I had to meet Mr. Denzil in HR where he asked me about my interests and briefed me on the work culture of the company. The hiring process took a total duration of around a month after which I received an offer letter & goodies from the company for the internship. I was super pumped to embark on this new chapter of my life!

From Innovation track to a Full-Time Product Manager

Watching an idea turn into reality over time and witnessing the process first-hand is as real as things can get within the corporate world. The role of a Product Manager gives this satisfaction.

At the start, we were given extensive training to set us up for success. This period was a whole new experience, I learned about concepts like user and market research, design thinking, A/B testing, etc. It was fascinating how each design or process decision that is made has an impact that is enough to bring behavioural changes in customers.

Post this training, I was given the opportunity to own a product Idea and build It from scratch with a talented team. We were given complete ownership to lead and deliver. During my tenure, I learned that a laser-sharp focus on metrics is extremely important for this role. Backing up things with data is one of the best lessons I have taken from this journey. It is fascinating to see how the data-driven thought process is extended to all the decisions made by the company relating to product sub-areas.

One touching episode during my tenure was when I contracted dengue and was hospitalized for a week. It was heart-warming to see how the mentors and HR provided all necessary support even beyond work. Their employee-centric approach has, personally, made me devoted to giving my best to the company.

Looking back, the journey I took while transitioning from one field to another, however drastic, was made easier because it was PayU. Now, as I continue to hone in the realm of product management and work full-time in the Merchant Experience Team owning a couple of initiatives, I realize that the fast pace at which I grew, was due to the culture, flexibility, and empathetic nature of the work environment PayU provides. I can confidently state that transitioning to a product-based role has been worth it. The journey was challenging, and yet the most fulfilling one I undertook.

The biggest piece of advice that this journey has provided me is to take risks and never let go of learning opportunities out of fear and apprehension.

Thanks for reading!

Wish you all the best in your product journey!

The post The Innovation Track that Landed Me at PayU | Aarat Bhatnagar appeared first on PayU Blog.

Held every 5 years, the Lok Sabha election or the national election is the largest democratic exercise in the nation.  Voters elect representatives to 543 seats in Parliament, and the party with 272 or more seats selects the prime minister. If no one party wins 272 seats, parties can come together to form a coalition government. This general election will choose the 17th Lok Sabha.

No matter which party comes to power this year, it is essential that each one of you go out and vote, even if you go ahead and press NOTA! (none of the above). Through NOTA, you can choose not to vote for any candidates who are contesting the elections. But, let us target to take our polling percentage from 66% in 2014 to 100% in 2019. This time, make your vote count!

In this blog, we have tried to collate all information that you might need or questions you might have about Lok Sabha elections 2019, before you go out and cast your vote in Phase 4 of the elections. 

Lok Sabha Elections 2019: When Did They Start?

The national elections will take place in seven phases, from April 11 till May 19. Polling has already been done in 3 phases.

The counting day will be on May 23.

Key Dates:

Note: Voting, generally, takes place between 7 am and 5 pm (closing time can be extended if there are long queues at polling booths)

Where To Register To Vote?

All Indian citizens who are 18 years of age on the qualifying date are eligible to vote.

Visit https://electoralsearch.in/ to check if you are registered to vote. If your name appears in the list, you are eligible to vote, otherwise you need to register to vote.

Visit https://www.nvsp.in/ for voter registration. Also, you can download Voter Helpline App to verify your name in Electoral Roll or register online.

If you have missed the registration deadline, you can still register to vote and a cast a ballot at the same time during early voting or on Election Day. Simply go to your regular polling place or early voting site to register and vote. You will need to show proof of residence and a photo ID.

How To Locate Your Constituency?

Here is the direct link of finding the polling location: http://psleci.nic.in/default.aspx

Enter the state, zone and constituency. Hence, the location will appear on the map.

When Is Polling In My State And Constituency?

Andaman and Nicobar Islands Lok Sabha Election Schedule

Andhra Pradesh Lok Sabha Election Schedule

Arunachal Pradesh Lok Sabha Election Schedule

Assam Lok Sabha Election Schedule

Bihar Lok Sabha Election Schedule

Chandigarh Lok Sabha Election Schedule

Chhattisgarh Lok Sabha Election Schedule

Dadra and Nagar Haveli Lok Sabha Election Schedule

Daman and Diu Lok Sabha Election Schedule

Delhi Lok Sabha Election Schedule

Goa Lok Sabha Election Schedule

Gujarat Lok Sabha Election Schedule

Haryana Lok Sabha Election Schedule

Himachal Pradesh Lok Sabha Election Schedule

Jammu and Kashmir Lok Sabha Election Schedule

Anantnag Lok Sabha seat in Jammu and Kashmir which will go for polling in three phases due to security reasons, CEC Sunil Arora announced.

Jharkhand Lok Sabha Election Schedule

Karnataka Lok Sabha Election Schedule

Kerala Lok Sabha Election Schedule

Lakshadweep Lok Sabha Election Schedule

Madhya Pradesh Lok Sabha Election Schedule

Maharashtra Lok Sabha Election Schedule

Manipur Lok Sabha Election Schedule

Meghalaya Lok Sabha Election Schedule

Mizoram Lok Sabha Election Schedule

Nagaland Lok Sabha Election Schedule

Odisha Lok Sabha Election Schedule

Puducherry Lok Sabha Election Schedule

Punjab Lok Sabha Election Schedule

Rajasthan Lok Sabha Election Schedule

Sikkim Lok Sabha Election Schedule

Tamil Nadu Lok Sabha Election Schedule

Telangana Lok Sabha Election Schedule

Tripura Lok Sabha Election Schedule

Uttar Pradesh Lok Sabha Election Schedule

Uttarakhand Lok Sabha Election Schedule

West Bengal Lok Sabha Election Schedule

With 3 phases already being covered, the data suggests that more and more people are coming out to vote. It will be interesting to see the results of this Lok Sabha elections 2019, as people, especially youth or millennial, become more aware of the issues and have an opinion of their own!

We as an organization are doing our bit to contribute as much as we can during these elections by raising awareness amongst our employees and giving them offs on election days, encouraging them to go and vote! Make sure your vote counts too!

The post Lok Sabha Elections 2019: All You Need To Know! appeared first on PayU Blog.

From Lydia’s desk…..

The Beginning

Being new in a fast and massive city like Mumbai is truly a very exhilarating task. In late 2017, when I settled down in Mumbai after my marriage, I couldn’t imagine that I would work with India’s leading payment gateway “PayUmoney”! Soon, I started following the traditional job hunt suite: apply to multiple offices and then zero down on the places I really want to work for and with. PayUmoney was on my “zeroed down” list and I got a call from there enquiring if I was interested in Marketing. I was happy but the only thing I was concerned about was distance. Yes, Mumbai is a city of dreams and achievements but distance too! Mapping my workplace from my house correctly and sifting carefully through the crowd was a task initially. But I guess I pulled it off well as a new Mumbaikar and PayUneer 😉

The Selection Process

As the days progressed and after a couple of rounds of interviews, I was handed my appointment letter as PayUmoney Content Marketing Executive. The interviews were intense but seemed like an easy flow with questions ranging from “why I moved to Mumbai?” to “What I have done in the past and would like to handle in the future?” and so on.

Work Mode On! 😎

I was very happy and excited to see my new workplace for the very first time, it was bright and open in all direction I could stretch my sight to. “Nice!” is what I commented. It gave me a sense of new learnings, creativity, friendships and much more.

My team & me

I met my senior and he walked me through the entire Fintech industry (as I am a newbie here), through PayUmoney, it’s functions and most importantly my detailed role in the marketing team. Content rather inbound marketing is a vast and most crucial leg in any business. My first assignment was to transform a complex product description into a simple and comprehended one. After multiple reiterations, it was finally completed. I really got to learn a lot in the process. Eventually, slowly and steadily I got a hang of how things work and most importantly what works. Thanks to all my teammates and seniors.

Gradually, my skills to produce quality content sharpened and I bagged multiple projects which included writing crisp and actionable emailers, product pages, FAQs and more. But the one piece of work I’ll always cherish is my first blog ever on PayUmoney: How To Accept Payments Using UPI Payment Gateway. I actually gave my all to this blog: creativity, SEO techniques and learnings, co-ordination and so on. My hard work paid off in the form of my blog ranking on the first-page of search engines.

A New Big Project

“We are creating superb content. But writing content is not enough. Distributing it will work for us!” – One of my senior.

My next project after learning SEO and writing B2B content was distributing it. I volunteered to learn something new and my seniors supported me throughout. It was a fantastic learning experience to understand people’s viewing and surfing habits, choice of topics on particular days, best times they view content on different channels and so many more drilled down factors of consumer behavior! In the beginning, we would distribute every day but the numbers didn’t show up. Distribution is a consistent process and requires patience for the numbers to show up. Finally, the mantra worked! OUr numbers started rolling up, and my efforts paid off! I really enjoyed putting up our repurposed content in the form of PPTs, videos, infographics and other forms of content on some channels mentioned below:

Medium

Slideshare

YouTube

Even though I had no experience prior to many things I did at PayU, I was entrusted with greater responsibilities, which in turn enabled me to give my very best in whatever I did. One thing I really loved doing as a PayUneer was brainstorming. This was the act where all sorts of ideas were accepted (irrespective of how basic, obvious, excellent or illogical they sound), broken down and judged in terms of consequences.

First Offsite Adventure Ever ✈️

“In PayU, the mantra is work hard and party even harder!”

Our SMB team offsite to Bhutan for 3 days was the most memorable memory because:

1. It was my first ever offsite
2. I met the entire big fat team from different locations for the first time!

The serene beauty of Bhutan was extremely enchanting and the bunch of people I was hanging around were super fun and enthusiastic. We visited many places, Tiger’s Nest was the showstopper though. A clam monastery 3000ft above the valley was Paro was worth the 5 hour trek!

With Bhutanese performers

The scenic Tiger’s Nest, Bhutan

PayU, My Second Home

My overall experience at PayU was very positive and enriching in terms of the knowledge I acquired. Its more like a startup environ where people are buzzing with ideas and laughter. A light-hearted place where everyone from the highest authorities to the supporting staff everyone is treated equally. This is the place where I found my first and close set of friends in Mumbai – my colleagues, who strengthened me all the more personally and professionally.

Beholding these beautiful memories and experiences of a lifetime and looking forward to a new venture, Lydia signs off. However as the show must go on..with all your marketing efforts for your business in place, it’s a good idea to have an all-in-one payment solution in place as well. Now to enjoy the best payment gateway experience and grow your business effortlessly!

The post Prolific PayUneer Diaries: Lydia Priyadarshini appeared first on PayU Blog.

From Vrushali’s desk…..

The Selection

Like all first year B-school students, I sent my internship application via campus recruitments. I gave many interviews but nothing clicked as such. While searching for internship opportunities outside, then a very interesting opportunity by PayU grabbed my eyes. I know this company, I have heard of it. Suddenly I recollect – It’s the company which processes online payments and I have used it, while booking movie, air or bus tickets and my favorite shopping website too! I was all game for it.

“How was your first year in college?” The interviewer kickstarted the interview

This was the first interview which lasted for exactly 1.25 hours! The interviewer and I spoke about everything – marketing, beliefs, processes, strategies, college, internship experiences, work profile so far and more. PayU’s Khar office in Mumbai is very creative, lively and attractive and that was my eureka moment — I want to work here!

Voilà! Next day, the HR called to say:

“Congratulations Vrushali, you are selected!”  

The Induction

I remember this day clearly like it just happened yesterday! Nervousness began to creep in on my first working day when, the IT representative handed me my own laptop and asked me to wait for my mentor to guide me further. Soon, my co-intern and I joined my mentor in a meeting room. In a matter of just minutes, the glass board was filled with payment gateway flow. This was new to me. I never made any efforts to figure out how a payment gateway works. I was in awe with all the information download in system. Our mentor sailed us through: 

• All about PayU
• How it functions
• Various segments of PayU with their target markets
• Future goals
• Work hierarchy
• Role we were going to play in the picture
• Expectations from the internship

 ‘Every second should be productive’ is the moto. 

The Project

As the induction downed to an end, I was introduced to the team was going to work with for the next two months  and got briefed about my project:

The main crux of my internship revolved around inbound marketing and further grinding into content creation, distribution, repurposing and strategizing from scratch. I got an amazing opportunity to pour in my ideas and thoughts with the team, while brainstorming strategies for a new product launch. This experience gave me insights into:

• How an organization approaches a product launch 
• Different ways to create marketing strategies  (for real)
• Making work easy by breaking tasks into action-ables for smooth execution

Creating concise and creative powerpoint presentations was my primary task. I really liked the idea to convert long form content (blogs) into short and relevant content (ppts, videos)  in order to feed readers with desired content. All the presentations I created were published on public platforms like Slideshare, Quora and many more.

I never knew simple presentations could have their own breathing space! 

Through my stint with PayU, I created over 20 presentations and proudly roped in PayUmoney’s slideshare account completely under my wings. Do have a look at my work, 35K+ views it till date and most of them loved it too!

What I really like about inbound marketing (online) is it provides: instant gratification in the form of numbers. Apart from repurposing content, my contribution as an intern flared to writing PayUmoney’s Bolt Checkout demo page copy,  app descriptions, PayUmoney YouTube video copies, being active on Quora, learning basics of SEO, Google Analytics and also drafting “How-To guides”.

I wrote my first professional blog: Expert’s Guide to Instagram Content Strategy 

The blog got me laurels of appreciation and today it is ranking on the first page of the leading search engine. It also made a super quick entry into the top 10 PayUmoney blogs.

Creating, distributing, tracking and optimizing is my key takeaway. 

The Team 

PayU’s Khar office has one of the coolest office vibes to work in and an amazing, talent nurturing work culture.  The key highlight is that one meeting when I got a chance to interact with the CEO PayU India. That day I realized, with great power comes responsibility and humility as well! 

I had a great time with my colleagues who made work fun and play. “Creatively zenzoned” is a term we coined and used when we have outgrown our innate creative juices. As the saying goes; if the roots are strong, the tree lives long. Those are the strong values, PayU exudes throughout its organization and to its employees.  Overall my experience as an intern at PayU was exceptional and helped me optimize my talent, skills and passion to another level all together.

Beholding these beautiful memories of a lifetime, Vrushali signs off from her desk to prep up for a golden career in digital marketing.  However as the show must go on..with all your marketing efforts for your business in place, it’s a good idea to have an all-in-one payment solution in place as well. Now to enjoy the best payment gateway experience and grow your business effortlessly!

The post PayU Super Intern Diaries: Vrushali Avhad appeared first on PayU Blog.

First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win!

This quote by the M.K Gandhi defines well the spirit with which entrepreneurs are changing the world.

Women entrepreneurs are creating a better world with their creativity and imagination. Multi taskers by default they are taking on roles that are creating many more opportunities. At PayU we are inspired by women leading the change for good!

Part of the Women’s Entrepreneurship Month with Zepo, we are excited to share testimonials from three women entrepreneurs who grew their ventures with PayUmoney and Zepo.

Durga, Ishtam Home Foods

Madhumita, Cheerkart

Priya, Priya’s Trendz

If you’re a woman entrepreneur inspired to begin your own e-commerce venture, let us get you started NOW! Register to get an e-commerce store ready with online payments enabled within minutes. Click on the picture below.

PayUmoney is India’s leading payment gateway service provider. Trusted, instant and secure, lakhs of businesses across globe trust PayUmoney to accept payments. Accept all payment options, go live within minutes and have the most secure transaction done at your ease!

With all the marketing and sales efforts, it is better to have a one stop payment solution. Sign up on PayUmoney and grow your business effortlessly.

The post Women Entrepreneurship Month inspiring stories appeared first on PayU Blog.