Brands
Vodafone launches global design store
MUMBAI: Vodafone has launched a global design store in Kanpur. It is a one-stop-shop with exclusive service counters on 4G, M-Pesa, Vodafone Red & Self Service Kiosk. It provides live and engaging experience of Vodafone’s wide variety of products & services.
The store’s core services include:
• 4G Zone: 4G Zone offers customers an interactive experience to explore and discover a world of data services on the mobile phone.
• Vodafone Red Zone: An all-in-one, integrated, worry-free solution, exclusively for postpaid retail and enterprise customers
• Self Service Kiosk: A facility, where customers can drop by to pay their bills or recharge their plans with any amount at any given point in time
• M-Pesa Zone: Convenient service to transfer money across geographies and make payments.
• Zoo Zoo Merchandise: Customers can choose from a wide range of merchandise such as Vodafone Zoo Zoo dolls, mugs etc from the Take me Home section.
• Go Post-Paid Zone: Get instant post-paid connections activated through KYC.
With the increasing use of smart phones, mobile internet and new technologies, the customer is evolving at a fast pace. To provide this customer with an interactive, convenient and satisfactory service experience, Vodafone India introduced its Global Design Store in Kanpur.
Customers will be offered an array of services through special designated zones such as 4G Zone to discover and experience mobile internet, Vodafone Red Zone; – all-in one post-paid service, m-pesa Zone a unique mobile money transfer service, Self Service Kiosk; a facility for bill payment and recharge service, Vodafone Red Box; to enable customers to transfer content from an existing handset to a new age smart phone for free.
Vodafone India business head – Uttar Pradesh (East), Nipun Sharma, said, “The consumer has always been at the heart of everything we do. Vodafone is at the forefront to introduce innovative concepts, products and services that enrich the lives of our customers. Hence, keeping in mind the trend of increasing smart phone penetration and mobile internet usage, we have taken an innovative approach in retail design. The Global Design Store with an easy and simple design, welcoming and engaging staff will provide a one-stop shop experience platform for our customers.”
The new Vodafone Global Design Store retail concept is designed and equipped to be warm and customer friendly, to meet the evolving needs and expectations of the customers. The store offers live and engaging retail experience of Vodafone’s wide range of products and services. This store has been specifically adapted and customized after testing and validating a full suite of customer insights, which are relevant to customer needs in India.
Brands
Rakesh Menon joins Paytm as avp – lending
Fintech product leader takes on new role after building digital lending, payments and credit products across fintech ecosystem
MUMBAI: Rakesh Menon has joined Paytm as assistant vice president – lending, taking on a new role focused on strengthening the company’s lending and credit products.
Prior to this, Menon worked at Profectus Capital Pvt Ltd as chief manager – payments based financing and digital lending.
At Profectus, he designed and launched digital credit products for merchants with variable cash flows, including overdraft-linked and revenue-share lending models. He led end-to-end LOS–LMS API integrations with payment partners and aggregators, enabling real-time underwriting, disbursal and repayment workflows.
He also worked on funnel optimisation initiatives using journey analytics, improving onboarding, KYC and disbursal conversion by 35 per cent. He developed ecosystem partnerships for transaction-data-based credit assessment and automated settlement systems, and collaborated with credit and data science teams to strengthen risk models and early delinquency detection.
Menon standardised partner onboarding and API frameworks, reducing go-live timelines by 40 per cent and improving digital scalability.
Before Profectus Capital, he worked at PayU as senior manager – presales lead – enterprise business from August 2022 to August 2023. He set up a national presales function for fintech and digital commerce clients, aligning solutions such as EMI, BNPL, BBPS and offer engines to merchant requirements.
He also helped improve conversion rates by around 15 per cent through merchant persona mapping, demo frameworks and structured sales playbooks, working closely with product and go-to-market teams.
From April 2019 to July 2022, Menon served as business unit head – SMB – direct acquisitions at Worldline, where he built the SMB online payments vertical from scratch. The business scaled to Rs 2,500 crore in annual transaction volume, growing at 45 per cent year-on-year.
During this period, he introduced paperless onboarding processes including eKYC and eSign, developed partner dashboards and CRM automation systems, and integrated platforms such as Shopify, WooCommerce and Tally to expand merchant adoption.
Across roles, Menon has worked across digital lending, payments and merchant financing, with experience in product development, ecosystem partnerships, API integrations and fintech-led growth strategies.
At Paytm, he will focus on scaling lending products and strengthening digital credit infrastructure within the company’s financial services ecosystem.
His appointment comes as fintech firms continue to expand their lending and embedded finance offerings in a competitive market.
