---
title: "Sonal Pandit - Head of Product - Digital Payments, KYC in Bengaluru | Tal"
description: "Meet Sonal Pandit, Product Head & Technology Strategist | Bridging 13Y Engineering + 8Y Product Leadership | Specialized in Digital Payments & KYC, AI-Driven FRM & Regulatory Compliance (PCI DSS/NPCI) based in Bengaluru."
image: "https://tal.club/meet/sonal-pandit/share-image"
---

# Sonal Pandit on Tal

## Headline

Product Head & Technology Strategist \| Bridging 13Y Engineering \+ 8Y Product Leadership \| Specialized in Digital Payments & KYC, AI\-Driven FRM & Regulatory Compliance \(PCI DSS/NPCI\)

## About

Fintech Leader with a 21\+year career built on a unique foundation: 13 years of core software engineering followed by a decade of high\-impact product leadership\. This dual\-perspective allows me to bridge the gap between complex technical architecture and market\-ready financial products\. Currently, as the Product Head for Digital Payments and KYC at Just Dial, I oversee a platform processing multi million in monthly transactions\. My focus is on scaling high\-concurrency ecosystems while maintaining healthy success rate and 100% regulatory compliance with PCI/NPCI frameworks\. 𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐜 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐬: 🚀 𝐒𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲: Led the launch of proprietary payment gateways and cloud\-native migrations for multi\-million user bases\. 🤖 𝐈𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: Pioneered OCR\-driven KYC automation, reducing onboarding costs by 𝟔𝟔% and TAT by 𝟒𝟑%\. 🛡️ 𝐑𝐢𝐬𝐤 & 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞: Deployed AI/ML fraud mitigation systems that save ₹𝟐\.𝟓 𝐂𝐫 annually while ensuring zero non\-compliance risk\. I thrive at the intersection of product\-led growth \(PLG\) and regulatory governance\. I am passionate about building resilient fintech solutions that are secure and seamless\. 𝐂𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐞: Digital Payments Architecture \| KYC & Onboarding Automation \| AI/ML in FRM \| P&L Ownership \| Regulatory Liaison \(NPCI, PCI\-DSS\) \| Cross\-functional Leadership\.

## Location

Bengaluru

## Work experience

Head of Product \- Digital Payments, KYC at Justdial, Apr 2020 \- Present · 6 yrs 5 mos, Bengaluru, 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐜 𝐎𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭: Directing the end\-to\-end product lifecycle for the Payments division, managing a portfolio processing ₹1000 Cr\+ annually\. 𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩: Serving as the primary liaison for PCI\-DSS/NPCI compliance and external audits, ensuring 100% adherence to evolving digital payment guidelines\. 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭 𝐈𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: Revolutionized recurring collections via eNach/paperNach, improving cash\-flow predictability and reducing failure rates by 40%\. 𝐂𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐄𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲: Reduced KYC onboarding costs by 66% and TAT by 43% through OCR\-driven automation\.

Head of Engineering \- Digital Payments at Justdial, Mar 2017 \- Apr 2020 · 3 yrs 2 mos, Mumbai Metropolitan Region, Led the architectural design and engineering execution for Just Dial’s proprietary payment gateway, transforming it into a high\-concurrency ecosystem supporting multi\-vertical business units\. 𝐀𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩: Engineered a high\-availability gateway integrated with Tier\-1 Banks and Aggregators, managing real\-time routing and load balancing to maintain a >93% success rate\. 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐜 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: Spearheaded the end\-to\-end integration of Cards, Net\-banking, UPI, and Wallets, ensuring seamless transaction flows for millions of users\. 𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐮𝐝 & 𝐑𝐢𝐬𝐤 𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠: Architected a real\-time Fraud Management System \(FRM\) using rule\-based engines \(IP, Velocity, Card\-bin\) to mitigate suspicious transactions and secure financial assets\. 𝐌𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐄𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦: Built a sophisticated reporting dashboard for internal and external merchants, providing real\-time data visibility and automated chargeback management\. 𝐈𝐧𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐌𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: Led the migration from legacy frameworks to scalable, cloud\-native architectures, significantly reducing latency and operational overhead\.

Associate Vice President \- Engineering at Udio\- A product from TranServ, May 2015 \- Feb 2017 · 1 yr 10 mos, Mumbai Area, India, Led a high\-performance engineering organization \(Tech Leads & Engineers\) to architect and launch the Udio Wallet & Payment Gateway, a pioneering product in the Indian digital payments space\. 𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥\-𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐠𝐞: Collaborated directly with Product teams to define requirements and translate business needs into technical specifications for the Udio ecosystem\. 𝐂𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐀𝐏𝐈 𝐀𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞: Designed the API stack for wallet services and complex Bank API integrations \(NEFT/IMPS\), enabling seamless digital payments for internal and external merchants\. 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 & 𝐒𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬: Spearheaded performance tuning and intelligent routing/load balancing, optimizing transaction success rates based on real\-time processor performance and business\-specific user limits\. 𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 & 𝐑𝐢𝐬𝐤: Implemented robust Risk and Fraud Control frameworks to safeguard high\-volume wallet transactions\.

Senior Project Manager \- Global Platform Engineering at Nazara Technologies, Sep 2013 \- Apr 2015 · 1 yr 8 mos, Mumbai, Architected and deployed gaming content portals across Asia Pacific, Europe, and Latin America, managing localized payment and subscription engines\. 𝐒𝐮𝐛𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐈𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: Designed a proprietary "Game Wrapper" and automated subscription engine for mobile operators, pioneering auto\-renewal processing for a global user base\. 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐜 𝐒𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠: Acted as a technical consultant for international clients in the Asia Pacific, designing custom platform features to meet specific regional market requirements

Technical Project Lead at Hungama, Oct 2008 \- Aug 2013 · 4 yrs 11 mos, Spearheaded the architecture and development of a global media content management system \(CMS\) handling digital distribution for marquee clients including Vodafone, iTunes, T\-Series, and BollywoodHungama\. 𝐂𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐝 𝐈𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: Pioneered real\-time server bidding and automated content encryption workflows using AWS Cloud APIs, significantly reducing production time and infrastructure costs\. 𝐒𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐀𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞: Designed a robust ingestion and rights management engine capable of real\-time content publishing across global partner portals\. 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭 𝐃𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭: Led the engineering for specialized digital distribution systems, ensuring 99\.9% uptime for high\-traffic media properties\. 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐜 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬: Orchestrated social engagement and monetization features across Facebook and mobile operator platforms to drive user retention\.

Team Leader at Clarion Technologies, 2006 \- 2008 · 2 yrs, Mumbai Metropolitan Region, Led a cross\-functional team of engineers to deliver complex software projects for a global clientele, focusing on high\-quality delivery and technical standardization\. 𝐆𝐥𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐥 𝐂𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭: Acted as a System Analyst, directly interfacing with international clients to translate high\-level business requirements into detailed technical specifications and Work Breakdown Structures \(WBS\)\. 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 \(𝐂𝐌𝐌𝐢\): Spearheaded the documentation and implementation of CMMi processes, including Project Tailoring and integration test frameworks, ensuring institutionalized quality standards\. 𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐁𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠: Established the organization’s first HTML standardization benchmark, improving development efficiency and UI consistency across all company projects\. 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐆𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞: Managed end\-to\-end project lifecycles, ensuring timely delivery while mentoring the technical team to meet aggressive performance goals\.

## Education

Master of Arts \- MA, English Language and Literature, General, Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya

Six Sigma Yellow Belt \- Certification, Scrum, 6SigmaStudy

[View the original profile](https://tal.club/meet/sonal-pandit)

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