Unified Send: Designing a seamless cross-border money transfer experience
Role
Lead Product Designer
Timeline
2024
Team
PM, Eng, UXC, UXR, legal, Sr.Directors
Tools
Figma, Miro
Unified PayPal's cross-border and Xoom send experience
Overview
PayPal’s cross-border flow had a hidden gap. In certain countries, users couldn’t send money as “Friends & Family”
but the system didn’t make this clear. Instead, it defaulted to treating every transaction as a purchase, which
triggered fees. This left family members or friends receiving less than intended, frustrating customers
and driving unnecessary support calls.
As Lead UX Designer, I tackled this by rethinking how we capture intent. Instead of assuming every transaction was
a purchase, we designed a flow that detects when a “Friends & Family” transfer isn’t supported and seamlessly
offers an alternative through Xoom. This made the process transparent, reduced costly mistakes, and gave users a
clear path to complete their transaction without friction.
Choosing country first
Problem
Users couldn’t send “Friends & Family” payments in certain countries but weren’t told why.
The system defaulted to “Goods & Services,” causing unexpected fees and reduced amounts for recipients.
Lack of visibility into Xoom’s capabilities meant missed opportunities to complete cross-border transfers.
Goals
Make transaction intent clear and transparent before payment is sent.
Seamlessly offer Xoom as an alternative when PayPal’s P2P isn’t available.
Reduce user frustration, churn, and support volume for high-friction corridors.
Process
Research & Insights
We began by digging into user behavior and customer service data. It quickly became clear that most people
assumed PayPal could send “Friends & Family” payments to any country. When that wasn’t possible, the system
defaulted to “Goods & Services” without explanation, triggering unexpected fees and leaving recipients with
less money than intended.
Interviews and support transcripts confirmed the frustration: the problem wasn’t
just technical, it was a trust issue. We also found that many of these “blocked” transactions could have been
completed through Xoom if users had been shown the option at the right moment.
Sending money to Mexico, PayPalPayment type selection
Exploration & Patterns
To address this, I mapped both PayPal and Xoom flows side by side to identify where intent could be captured
earlier. We explored multiple ways to ask a simple but powerful question: “Are you sending to someone you know
or making a purchase?” This small shift would let us route the user to the right service before they ever hit
a roadblock.
I studied remittance UX patterns and tested variations of intent-capture screens, focusing on
clarity over speed—because when money is involved, confidence matters more than clicks.
End-to-end redesigned flow
Outcomes
The final solution introduced a seamless intent-detection step that could automatically route users to Xoom when
“Friends & Family” wasn’t available. This meant no more surprise fees for recipients, fewer frustrated calls to
customer service, and higher retention in historically high-friction corridors. In short, we turned a hidden
blocker into a transparent choice, improving both the user experience and the business outcome.
