News From ACM-W India
The collaboration between ACM-W and the Madras Management Association (MMA) has always led to interesting and engaging talks. Industry leaders speak about a wide range of topics at these sessions and the audience – comprised of students, industry veterans from varied backgrounds – truly savours them. Our February 2015 talk was no different. Ajitha Molakalapalli of Paypal helped demystify the world of online and mobile payments.
Ajitha works as a Sr. Manager in the Data Technology Organization as PayPal. She has 15+ years of experience both in the US and India. She worked previously at Sun Microsystems and then at Paypal. Paypal, being the pioneer in the world of mobile payments, has a very deep commitment towards this technology and is constantly pushing the boundaries. Ajitha shared some of her insights and future trends with us.
The talk saw her cover the basics of mobile payments for those of us unfamiliar with the under the hood details.This included its history, growth, and current technologies used for mobile payments. She also spoke of how users gravitate towards convenience and, as with any industry, a wave of innovation is driving a dramatic shift in the way consumers are making payments. Of particular interest and note was her reference to India and the widespread use of smart phones and feature phones and the convenience of making payments using them. Security, integrated promotions are some of the other key she alluded to as factors prompting consumers to use mobile payments. Just as the magnetic strip revolutionized payment by plastic credit card, near-field communication and other fast-evolving technologies will facilitate the move to payment using mobile technologies. She also brought up the multibillion-dollar opportunity waiting for the stakeholders in this domain.
The talk was chaired by Prof Ramanujam, IMSC, who is an ACM member/volunteer and is on the committee of ACM Chennai Professional Chapter. ACM-W India president, Dr. Sheila Anand gave the welcome address. Around 70 participants, including industry professionals, bankers, consultants and students made for an engaged audience. Ajitha also kept them enraptured with the videos she included to demonstrate how mobile payments were made. The talk came to a close with a very active Q & A session. Overall, it was a fascinating evening of discussions about Money matters in the mobile world!