Now let me first qualify the question a little more before I get to answering it. This question applies actually not just to PayPal.com but to all international online payment processors like authorize.net, 2checkout.com, rbsworldpay.com, etc. An international payment product like PayPal does work for those Indian merchants whose customers are based outside India because it makes collecting payments in various currencies so much easier with far superior fraud protection. However, there are a few problems associated with withdrawing the accumulated revenue to an Indian bank account that a merchant faces. For one, you have to always pay foreign currency conversion fee from USD to INR.

What I really want to discuss is why a global payment platform like PayPal does NOT work for Indian merchants whose customers are in India:

1. Paypal billing is in US Dollar - this is a problem for most Indian merchants. Showing a customer his total payment amount first in Indian rupees on the merchant site and then showing the same amount in $ on the payment processor website  is bad user experience. It scares most users and results in dropoffs on the payment page.

2. PayPal charges x% + a fixed $0.30 cents in USD as processing fees. The 30 cents in USD converted to INR just dont work for merchants where the transaction size is on the low side < INR 250. There is also a FX conversion fee of 2.5% on top of transaction fees that an Indian merchant must pay. All these eat in to the merchant’s margins.

3. None of the international players offer netbanking (enable an user to pay online from his Indian bank account in real-time). Internet Banking or real-time direct-debit or netbanking payments are about 30% of all web transactions in India, so they cannot be ignored.

4. PayPal and other international players are a few years away from providing a custom localized solution  for India; the current ecommerce volumes would not justify the investment. Also the legal and regulatory hurdles are far more significant for an international payments company than an Indian.

In essence, Indian web merchants today have 2 options:
1. Use international payment processors like PayPal, 2Checkout, Authorize.net, etc. with superior technology, lower lead times but higher transaction cost and only credit/debit card processing

2. or use Indian payment gateways like HDFC, Citi, CCavenue, EBS, TechProcess, Billdesk with card acquiring and netbanking payment options, lower transaction cost, but higher signup cost, longer lead times and inferior technology (compared to global players).

1. In today’s day and age, building simple “need fulfilling” products and getting a read on their performance in the market within 6-9 months is not impossible.
2. Further, with the right team, this can be done for multiple product ideas one after the other.
3. If you are detail oriented and a fast learner, you do not need 10 years experience in a particular domain before building a product for it.

From an initial pool of a dozen ideas, I have chosen 3 concepts to start with based on their business case. These products concepts are in the ecommerce, online payments and mobile VAS spaces; 1 is for the Indian market and 2 for global customers. The intent for an early exit is not borne out of greed for $$$, it is so because building products is the most exciting part. And the more diverse products we can build, the better it is for challenging our brains @ZaakCo

Requirements for business partner / CTO / Techie / Super Geek:

- High energy, self-starter, risk taker, street + book smart, no ego/drama/God complex
- CS Bachelors degree preferred; non-CS works with right experience!
- Equally comfy with mySQL, JAVA, PHP and the open source toolbox to tend to both the front-end and back-end of a product.
- Experience and/or interest in some product verticals, must contribute to concept development also not just coding!
- Compensation: equity and/or minimal salary
- Suitable age 26-36 years
- Location Delhi NCR, India

All the other normal stuff you would want to know:
- Company is Zaak Consulting, www.ZaakCo.com, @ZaakCo
- I am Upasana Taku, 1 year as a Management consultant, 4 years as a Product Manager @HSBC + @PayPal, 2 years @Stanford, 4 years at @NITJ, http://upasanataku.com/?page_id=2, @upasanataku