I joined a leading fintech company that provides payment technology to online merchants in April 2020. An engineer and an MBA with over six years of corporate experience in various fields, I was absolutely new to the fintech world then. I did not have an inkling of knowledge on how online payments work and the nitty-gritties behind it. I was nervous, skeptical, and apprehensive.
However, almost two years in this field, I can now claim that I would prefer to be in no other industry. This industry amazes me every day – the way it is constantly evolving and expanding, transforming the financial world and taking it by storm.
It’s a thriving industry and highly competitive. One has to be on their toes and on the edge of their seats all the time because you don’t want to be left behind. It is one of those rare industries which thrived even during the pandemic, because every business wants to go online now. The unprecedented growth of this sector pre and post pandemic has been undeniable and admirable.
Fintech companies emphasise on creativity, innovation, collaboration, and entrepreneurship in real sense. A couple of people I have now come to know, who were earlier associated with my current organisation, have ventured into their own successful entrepreneurial startups. This doesn’t happen so often in other industries – so much so that it makes me believe that working in a fintech set-up gives you an entrepreneurial bug.
This industry has so much to offer — you learn new things every day, which is why this field intrigues me. Owing to the fact that this industry is booming, one can rest assure that your work will not be stagnant or monotonous.
The exposure, learning, and growth that this industry may offer is unparalleled. If one takes right interest in the payment solutions, it can offer you the right career growth and professional progression. I have also known colleagues well-endowed with the right amount of knowledge and went on to do bigger things.
What’s also fascinating about this industry is how it is diminishing international boundaries. It’s a sector without borders in true sense. I work with clients from all over the world and it is something I truly enjoy.
Working in a multilingual environment hones your linguistic skills and your understanding of the world in general. Working with clients in different time zones can be challenging but is equally rewarding.
Prima facie payment solutions look absolutely easy-to-use and neat, but it is the complexity and sophistication on the backend that works so wonderfully enabling a customer-friendly payment option. Working in the industry makes you appreciate the challenges, the technology and the nitty-gritties on the backend to make a beautiful front-end.
The year 2021 was also one-of-a-kind for fintech folks, given the RBI regulations on subscriptions / recurring payments and card storage / tokenisation. It’s been a hell of a ride, putting method to madness to make these solutions possible to be deployed, working with multiple stakeholders in the industry.
I have also come to realise that working in the fintech industry can be fun and exciting, but one needs to slog harder than most industries and you need to be prepared for it. Leaders in this field need to be a step ahead because they are either building a unicorn or planning for an IPO or busy getting a licence, and you need to march on with them with the same goal and synergy.
The fintech companies and startups these days are creating sustainable revenue streams and it’s good to be a part of this journey. It also gives you an opportunity to work directly with the leaders. The open, accessible, and highly communicative environment is quite empowering as an employee.
This year taught me a lot – deploying SI HUB to meet the new RBI guidelines on recurring payments; the relentless working on tokenisation, which will also go on this year; cross border payments for the global clients I work with; et al.
The industry offers you a diversity of work, the hustle to get things done, the startup pressure, which is challenging, and the opportunity to grow your skill-set and work without any borders. The value these fintech companies create via their solutions definitely have profound and pivotal long-term consequences leading to digital transformation and sustainable competitive advantage for the financial sector and it’s exciting to be a part of this dynamic and evolving journey.
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