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Prep/Companies/PayPal

Fintech · San Jose (large engineering centres in Chennai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad)

PayPal.

Online payments, checkout, peer-to-peer transfers (PayPal, Venmo) and merchant payment processing (Braintree) across 200+ markets.

its questions lean on

payment flows and transaction consistency
fault tolerance (circuit breakers
rate limits)
object-oriented design with SOLID
REST API design
async processing

The rounds, as candidates describe them

Online coding testTwo coding problems on HackerEarth.source ↗
Problem solving, Java and databasesTwo rounds of problem solving with Java and database questions.source ↗
System designA 45-minute HLD round for SDE2 and SDE3.source ↗
HR and managerialBehavioural and managerial questions; senior loops may add a director round.source ↗

Reported by candidates

From public interview write-ups; each links its source.

Design a Payment SystemSystem design
IP-20 · Design a Payment System →W02 · DAY 02 · Idempotency in Practice →W05 · DAY 02 · Distributed Transactions — The Saga Pattern →reported in:LeetCode Discuss · PayPal Software Engineer SDE2, Chennai (2024) ↗LeetCode Discuss · PayPal SE 3 (T24), Bangalore (2022) ↗
Design a Payment GatewaySystem design
SQ-18 · Razorpay Payment Gateway →IP-20 · Design a Payment System →W02 · DAY 04 · Webhook Delivery System →reported in:LeetCode Discuss · PayPal SE 3, Bengaluru (2024) ↗
Design an Elevator SystemLow-level design
LLD-04 · Design an Elevator System →reported in:LeetCode Discuss · PayPal Software Engineer SDE2, Chennai (2024) ↗
Design a Calendar App like Google CalendarSystem design
IP-06 · Design a Notification System →IP-17 · Design a Distributed Job Scheduler →reported in:LeetCode Discuss · PayPal Senior Software Engineer SDE3, Chennai (2024) ↗
Design a Rate Limiter (LLD)Low-level design
LLD-03 · Design a Rate Limiter →IP-02 · Design a Rate Limiter →reported in:LeetCode Discuss · PayPal T24 SDE3, June 2022 ↗
Design a Book-Shelf Service like Goodreads (REST APIs)Low-level design
W04 · DAY 01 · Caching Patterns →reported in:LeetCode Discuss · PayPal T24 SDE3, June 2022 ↗
Design a Parking LotLow-level design
LLD-01 · Design a Parking Lot →reported in:LeetCode Discuss · PayPal SDE-3, Chennai, Selected (2023) ↗
Design a Movie Ticket Booking System (LLD)Low-level design
LLD-05 · Design a Movie Ticket Booking System →SQ-16 · BookMyShow Seat Booking →reported in:LeetCode Discuss · PayPal SDE2, Hyderabad, Jun 2022 ↗
Design a Circuit Breaker (LLD)Low-level design
W02 · DAY 03 · Circuit Breakers →reported in:LeetCode Discuss · PayPal SSE, Rejected (2021) ↗
Design an E-commerce Store (LLD)Low-level design
W04 · BOSS · Design a Global E-Commerce Product Catalog System →reported in:LeetCode Discuss · PayPal SDE2, Bangalore, April 2022 ↗LeetCode Discuss · PayPal India SDE-3 (2022) ↗GeeksforGeeks · PayPal Interview Experience for SDE-3 (updated 2025) ↗
Design a Cache with Configurable Eviction Policy (LLD)Low-level design
LLD-02 · Design an LRU Cache →IP-11 · Design a Distributed Cache →reported in:GeeksforGeeks · PayPal Interview Experience for SDE-2, 3.6 Years Experienced (2021) ↗
Design a Scalable Secrets Storage ServiceSystem design
W09 · DAY 05 · Security Architecture →IP-03 · Design a Distributed Key-Value Store →reported in:GeeksforGeeks · PayPal Interview Experience for SDE-2, 3.6 Years Experienced (2021) ↗
Design an In-Memory File SystemLow-level design
no lesson for this one yetreported in:GeeksforGeeks · PayPal Interview Experience for SE 2 (updated 2025) ↗

Likely, from what they build

Our pick, not a report: questions that fit PayPal's products.

Design a Digital WalletSystem design
IP-20 · Design a Payment System →SQ-01 · India's UPI →W03 · DAY 05 · Audit Log System →

Study path

Every lesson the questions above point to, once, in order.

01IP-20Design a Payment System
02W02 · DAY 02Idempotency in Practice
03W05 · DAY 02Distributed Transactions — The Saga Pattern
04SQ-18Razorpay Payment Gateway
05W02 · DAY 04Webhook Delivery System
06LLD-04Design an Elevator System
07IP-06Design a Notification System
08IP-17Design a Distributed Job Scheduler
09LLD-03Design a Rate Limiter
10IP-02Design a Rate Limiter
11W04 · DAY 01Caching Patterns
12LLD-01Design a Parking Lot
13LLD-05Design a Movie Ticket Booking System
14SQ-16BookMyShow Seat Booking
15W02 · DAY 03Circuit Breakers
16W04 · BOSSDesign a Global E-Commerce Product Catalog System
17LLD-02Design an LRU Cache
18IP-11Design a Distributed Cache
19W09 · DAY 05Security Architecture
20IP-03Design a Distributed Key-Value Store
21SQ-01India's UPI
22W03 · DAY 05Audit Log System

Company names and logos are trademarks of their owners, shown only to identify each company. This course isn't affiliated with or endorsed by any of them.

← all companies Sit a timed mock interview →