Google Pay India Crisis Plan for a Sudden Withdrawal of the ₹100 Note

You lead Google Pay in India and have the final say on its response. The government announces a fresh demonetization like the one in 2016, but this time it withdraws the ₹100 note. Explain what you would do right away, in the short term and over the long term. ### Clarifying Questions - How long do people have to deposit or exchange old ₹100 notes, and will new ₹100 notes be issued to replace them? - Is the ₹100 note the only denomination affected? - Does my authority extend beyond product and engineering to marketing spend, bank partnerships and public communication? - Which matters most for this response: keeping payments reliable through the surge, adding users and merchants, or public trust? ### Part 1 — Right after the announcement What do you do in the first hours and days? ```hint Find what breaks first A sudden move from cash to digital payments lands on systems Google Pay only partly controls. Think about what fails first under the surge, and who gets hurt when it does. ``` #### What This Part Should Cover - Reliability and capacity across the whole payment chain, including banks and the payment network - Clear guidance to users and merchants in the languages they use - Readiness for scams and for a spike in support requests ### Part 2 — While old notes are being exchanged How do you use the following weeks, while people deposit or exchange their old notes? ```hint Follow a cash-dependent user Picture a small shopkeeper and a first-time smartphone user who both relied on ₹100 notes. List what stops each of them from paying or getting paid digitally tomorrow. ``` #### What This Part Should Cover - Onboarding of first-time users and small merchants, matched to the barriers each faces - Product changes for small, frequent payments - How incentive spending is targeted and protected from abuse ### Part 3 — After the transition What do you do over the long term, once the old notes are gone? ```hint Separate the spike from the habit Many people who switch under pressure go back to cash once notes are plentiful again. Ask what would make digital payment their default anyway. ``` #### What This Part Should Cover - Keeping the new users and merchants active - Lasting advantages built from the moment, beyond the surge itself - Regulatory, competitive and infrastructure considerations ### What a Strong Answer Covers - How withdrawing the ₹100 note differs from the 2016 withdrawal of high-value notes, and what that changes in the plan - A clear line between what Google Pay controls and what depends on banks, the payment network and regulators - Explicit priorities and trade-offs within and across the three horizons - Metrics for each horizon, with guardrails on reliability, fraud and incentive cost - Responsible conduct during a public disruption: trust, inclusion and not exploiting panic ### Follow-up Questions - On the first day, a large bank starts declining many UPI payments. What do you do, and what do you tell users? - Finance asks you to size the first month's cashback budget. How do you decide the amount and when to stop? - A rival payments app launches much larger cashback for new users. Do you match it?