“Tapping ‘Pay with Points’ at checkout may seem simple, but behind that seamless experience is a complex, real-time redemption system that supports tens of millions of users and processes billions of reward points annually,” explains Arun Neelan, a expert technologist with deep technical expertise, leading end to end delivery across all SDLC phases from design and implementation to testing, deployment, maintenance, and documentation.
With deep expertise in real-time consumer payments and rewards, Arun Neelan has played a pivotal role in shaping platforms that transform loyalty points into spendable value delivering seamless and secure experiences at massive scale. Collaborating with engineering, product, compliance, and architecture teams, Arun Neelan leads and actively contributes to the development and operation of resilient, high-performing solutions that scale efficiently amid rapid growth.
“When customers tap ‘Pay with Points,’ it triggers a highly coordinated backend process in real-time that verifies eligibility, checks balances, and deducts points instantly all while ensuring compliance with strict industry security standards,” says Arun Neelan.
Data security is critical in today’s digital world, where sensitive payment information like card numbers and personal details travel across complex networks and face risks such as fraud and data breaches. Drawing on deep cryptography expertise, Arun Neelan has developed custom security solutions based on standards like JSON Web Encryption (JWE) and JSON Web Signatures (JWS) to protect data confidentiality, integrity, and authenticity across complex, high-volume transactions helping to ensure these transactions remain secure, reliable, and compliant, protecting both users and the business from financial and reputational harm.
As an advocate for modern, cloud-native architectures, Arun Neelan leverages microservices, event-driven design, and serverless orchestration with Amazon EKS on Fargate to boost agility and reduce operational overhead. Arun Neelan leads efforts to build fault-tolerant, production-ready systems and has actively created documentation, reviewed documentation produced by others, and provided mentorship ensuring consistent performance and reliability at scale.
Arun Neelan also supports senior leadership in project management contributing to estimation, delivery tracking, and quality oversight. Arun Neelan collaborates closely with product teams to align on test scenarios and coverage, bridging engineering and business through a shared understanding of technical dependencies and delivery outcomes. Additionally, Arun Neelan works closely with the architecture team to review and refine architectural solutions, ensuring technical alignment and scalability. This blend of deep technical execution and cross-functional alignment positions Arun Neelan as a key enabler of engineering and delivery excellence.
Arun Neelan also ensures observability and operational readiness by implementing enterprise-grade tools such as Dynatrace and Splunk, enabling proactive monitoring, rapid incident response, and high system availability in large-scale environments.
“Even the simplest user interaction is powered by tightly orchestrated systems that blend reliability, security, and innovation,” says Arun Neelan. “Ensuring flawless and trustworthy loyalty experiences is a responsibility every technologist must embrace.”
