Nihal Pj
@nihalpj
I build 0-to-1 UPI payment infrastructure and consumer fintech products at scale.
IndiaWhat I'm looking for
I'm building Neokred's foundational merchant and payment architecture, leading a 35-person cross-functional organization and directly managing engineering, product, and QA leaders. I helped scale an NPCI-certified UPI Merchant Switch to 7,000 TPS and launched a unified merchant management ecosystem that supported 200,000 UPI Soundboxes across five partner banks.
Previously at South Indian Bank, I owned the UPI roadmap across vendors, mobile developers, and UAT. I launched UPI Lite to reduce Core Banking System transaction load by 40%, onboarded more than 20,000 merchants in three months through merchant products and APIs, and improved PSP app usage through a data-driven accessibility-focused redesign.
I'm also building an agent-first Android launcher using on-device LLMs to automate everyday consumer tasks, and prototyping AI-managed DeFi savings solutions using Solana CLI. I enjoy translating NPCI regulations and complex payment systems into reliable, high-volume consumer and merchant experiences.
Experience
Work history, roles, and key accomplishments
Senior Product Manager
Neokred Technologies
May 2025 - Present (1 year 4 months)
Directing a 35-person cross-functional organization to build Neokred's foundational merchant and payment architecture. Scaled payment processing capacity to 7,000 TPS and drove adoption across 5 major partner banks.
Product Manager & Technology Owner
South Indian Bank
Jan 2021 - Apr 2025 (4 years 3 months)
Directed the full SDLC for the bank's UPI product roadmap, coordinating between external vendors, internal mobile developers, and leading a dedicated UAT team. Reduced transaction load on the Core Banking System by 40% by launching UPI Lite.
Education
Degrees, certifications, and relevant coursework
CHRIST University, Bangalore
Master of Business Administration, Business Administration
Pursued a Master of Business Administration (MBA) at CHRIST University, Bangalore.
Calicut University
Bachelor of Business Administration, Business Administration
Completed a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) at Calicut University, Malappuram.
Google Foundations of Project Management, Project Management
Earned the Google Foundations of Project Management certification.
Atlassian
Agile with Atlassian Jira, Agile Project Management
Earned the Agile with Atlassian Jira certification.
Scrum Alliance
Scrum Master Certification, Scrum
Earned the Scrum Master Certification.
Linux Foundation
Linux Application Management, Linux System Administration
Earned the Linux Application Management certification.
Tech stack
Software and tools used professionally
Availability
Location
IndiaAuthorized to work in
Salary expectations
Job categories
Skills
Interested in hiring Nihal?
You can contact Nihal and 90k+ other talented remote workers on Himalayas.
Message NihalGet matched with your dream remote job
Sign up now and join over 250,000+ remote workers who receive personalized job alerts, curated job matches, and more for free!
