PayPal opens technology centre

First in Hyderabad, this is third such facility in India for the U.S. firm

Digital payments platform provider PayPal has set up a global technology centre in Hyderabad, its third such facility in the country.

Fraud prevention

Formally opened by Telangana IT and Industries Secretary Jayesh Ranjan on Tuesday, the new facility would focus on leveraging PayPal’s expertise in data science, risk management and machine learning to empower small and medium-sized businesses to identify and protect themselves from fraud.

The opening of the centre comes in the backdrop of the acquisition of fraud prevention platform Simility in 2018.

This is the third such facility in India for PayPal, with Chennai and Bengaluru hosting one each. The India technology centres are the largest for PayPal outside of the U.S. and work on emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning and blockchain.

Digital payments

In a release, the company said the Hyderabad centre would play a critical role in advancing the goals of the Indian government and the Reserve Bank of India to improve digitisation of India by enabling these new-age businesses to adopt digital payments.

Vice-president and head (engineering) of PayPal India Guru Bhat said the three centres employed 2,500 engineers. The new facility, which can accommodate around 100 people, at present has 60 people and has the flexibility to grow.

Growth market

Describing India as a key growth market, he said the opening of the global technology centre in Hyderabad marks a “significant milestone on our journey”. PayPal, he said, expected growth to come from emerging markets such as India.

Senior vice-president, Enterprise Platform and Seller Risk of PayPal, Tushar Shah, said, “Through the expansion, we are investing not only in the world-class Indian technology talent, but also in continuing to strengthen how we support and grow our global customer base”.

Addressing the gathering, Mr. Ranjan spoke on the start-up eco-system in Hyderabad and how several firms working in the area of fintech had set up operations in the city.

A little later he also tweeted: “Welcome @PayPal to Hyderabad... better late than never!”