Vijay Shekhar Sharma, founder of Paytm, praised the progressive regulator in India, recognizing their role in incorporating innovations such as Paytm’s QR code solution for offline merchants.
“I think the biggest approach for any country and government, I would always say this is that when the top drives it, everybody listens to it, there’s no doubt about that. Many of us in India have solved different problems. Paytm has solved for offline. merchants using QR code and the forward-looking regulator – a regulator that has always accepted change and acknowledged the expansion of it in a more distributed way, make that mainstream and I think today we have it in the country that wherever you go, you can make a payment using your smartphone. This is possible only because the regulator took it as an innovation and integrated it,” Sharma said in a conversation with Sopnendu Mohanty, Chief Fintech Officer of the Monetary Authority of Singapore at the Japan Fintech Festival.
Sharma recently stepped down as the Chairman of Paytm Payments Bank, which faced restrictions from the Reserve Bank of India over KYC concerns.
The Paytm founder shared his insights on the intersection of regulatory support, entrepreneurial spirit and the global landscape of financial innovation during the conversation.
Admiring Masayoshi Son
Sharma expressed admiration for Masayoshi Son’s unparalleled support for challengers to the status quo. He acknowledged the challenges faced by such innovators and the potential for failure but emphasized Son’s ability to inspire entrepreneurs and act as a catalyst for their visions.
“There is no one in the world like Masa (Masayoshi Son) who could support a challenger to the status quo. Many times the challengers do not succeed, many times they fail without fail, many times they become negative news. Not every change. will become an improvement in the world. In at the same time, he has an amazing ability to inspire entrepreneurs, expand their vision and be the fuel of the energy.”
Sharma shared a personal perspective on career choices, rejecting the notion of structured, static large firms as drivers of social change. He emphasized the need for new energies, encompassing regulators, entrepreneurs, thought processes and social behaviors.
“I can tell you that my choice was clear, that I would not accept a job because I believe that the change to society is not brought by a structured, static big company. They gradually change. The change at the fundamental level can come only when the new energies come together – new regulators, new entrepreneurs, new thought processes, new customer behavior, new merchant behavior, new behavior in society. And to do that, you need a new person. So to every new person in this room, I have a very simple right to respect and to all who are willing to listen to this, take a chance on yourself. If you’re not going to take a chance, who’s going to take a chance on yourself? And taking a chance on yourself is doing and believing something that you too believe,” he said.
Understanding the ‘FIN’ in Tech
Sharma sought to debunk the notion that technology alone differentiates financial services, stressing the importance of a deep understanding of the financial and regulatory aspects. “Technology is not the differentiator but how deeply you understand the ‘FIN’ part, which is the finance, the regulation, which is the movement of money, is the differentiator that we are developing,” he said.
Reflecting on the transformative power of wealth, Sharma emphasized that money should not be a burden but rather an energy source providing opportunities to bring about positive change. “Money must do one thing for you that it does not become a burden, but the energy that gives you an opportunity to bring the change that you want to bring into the world. I as a champion of change want to have the opportunity and energy to do that. So, for me, I don’t know when it happened. I don’t know if it’s there today or not. I don’t care what the index will be. Never be part of the index that does you do things, rather bring the change you want to believe in,” he said
The Paytm founder emphasized Asia’s pivotal role in global financial innovation. “It is actually in Asia more than in the western countries all because here, the customer and the user are more involved, and will accept the change faster. The regulator is also looking ahead. Then it will go west. So, for the first time , the table has turned somehow, that world is looking up to Asia for financial innovation.”