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Cross-Border Payment Flow Optimizer
A transparency and observability platform for cross-border payments — giving merchants real-time visibility into exchange rates, compliance status, settlement progress, and fee structures so they understand exactly what is happening to their money at each step.
Client
Payments Fintech
Role
Lead Product Designer
Timeline
16 weeks
Platform
Desktop Web App
Domain
Fintech / Payments
Year
2025
The Challenge
Every year, small and mid-size businesses lose billions to hidden fees, opaque exchange rates, and unpredictable settlement timelines when sending money across borders. The fundamental problem is not the payment process itself, but the complete lack of visibility into it.
This project was not about reinventing the payment rails — it was about building an observability layer on top of them. A transparency interface that shows merchants what is happening to their transfer in real-time: where funds are, what fees are being charged and why, which compliance checks are running, and when settlement will occur. Think of it as a monitoring dashboard for money in motion.
I led product design from research through launch for an international money transfer fintech, drawing on my years of experience at Deutsche Bank designing compliance and financial training platforms and my current role at Fidelity. This was a rare combination of regulatory domain knowledge and modern fintech product design.
Interactive Prototype
This observability interface provides real-time transparency into payment status, fees, compliance, and settlement. Select a transaction and delivery route to see how all views update contextually.
Measurable Outcomes
47%
Reduction in fee-related support tickets
52%
Fewer payment status inquiry calls
78%
First-attempt payment success rate (from 62%)
61%
Faster payment approval (45 min to 18 min)
Design Process
Discovery
3 weeks
Stakeholder interviews, competitive audit, merchant payment flow analysis, compliance workflow mapping
Output: Research synthesis, journey maps, pain-point taxonomy
Definition
2 weeks
Problem framing, design principles, information architecture, compliance requirement matrix
Output: Design principles, IA document, regulatory constraint map
Exploration
3 weeks
Concept sketches, flow prototyping, fee visualization experiments, settlement timeline patterns
Output: 3 concept directions, 12 screen explorations, pattern library
Validation
2 weeks
Usability testing with 8 merchants, compliance team review, A/B testing fee display variants
Output: Test findings, iteration priorities, compliance sign-off
Refinement
3 weeks
High-fidelity design, interaction specification, design system components, engineering handoff
Output: Final designs, component library, implementation specs
Launch & Learn
3 weeks
Phased rollout, analytics instrumentation, post-launch user interviews, iteration backlog
Output: Launch metrics, V2 roadmap, ongoing optimization plan
Research & Discovery
68%
of SMBs can’t explain the fees they pay on international transfers
Merchant survey, n=312
$4.7B
lost annually by US SMBs to hidden FX markups and opaque fee structures
FXC Intelligence, 2024
3.2 days
average settlement time for cross-border payments — 5x slower than domestic
SWIFT gpi Analytics
41%
of payment failures caused by compliance errors that could have been prevented proactively
Internal analysis, n=1,200 txns
User Personas
Sarah — The Operations Lead
6 yearsE-commerce (50 employees)
Manages vendor payments across 8 countries. Not a finance expert — learned on the job. Needs clarity over complexity. Dreads month-end reconciliation.
Core Pain Point
Spends 12+ hours/month chasing payment statuses and reconciling fees she doesn’t understand
Marcus — The CFO
15 yearsManufacturing ($40M revenue)
Sophisticated with finance but frustrated by fragmented tools. Uses 3 different platforms for payments, FX, and compliance. Wants a single source of truth.
Core Pain Point
Can’t get real-time visibility into total cross-border payment costs across all corridors
Current State Payment Journey
Phase
Task
Before
After
Day 1
Payment Setup
Enter recipient details, choose payment method
Manually re-entering bank details; no validation until submission
Saved beneficiaries with pre-validated banking details and smart defaults
Day 1–3
Compliance Review
Submit documents, wait for compliance clearance
Opaque process; no visibility into what’s needed until rejected
Proactive compliance wizard surfaces requirements during setup
Day 3
Rate Lock
Accept exchange rate and confirm payment
Rate expires while completing compliance; forced to accept worse rate
30-second guaranteed rate lock with real-time mid-market comparison
Day 3–6
In Transit
Wait for funds to arrive at recipient bank
No tracking; recipients ask for updates that can’t be provided
SWIFT gpi-integrated timeline with real-time position tracking
Day 7+
Reconciliation
Match received amount to invoices, account for fees
Received amount doesn’t match expected — hidden deductions
Full fee disclosure upfront; received amount matches prediction
Key Design Decisions
Fee Transparency First
Before
Fees buried in exchange rate markups. Users saw a ‘competitive rate’ but couldn’t determine total cost until after settlement. Post-transaction statements showed deductions from multiple intermediaries that were never disclosed upfront.
After
Every fee is disclosed before confirmation: FX spread shown in basis points against mid-market rate, network fees itemized by node, correspondent charges estimated with historical data. A comparison module benchmarks total cost against 3 alternative routes in real-time.
Impact
Fee-related support tickets decreased 47%. Payment approval time reduced from 45 min to 18 min.
Proactive Compliance Surfacing
Before
Compliance requirements surfaced as blocking errors after payment submission. Users would complete the entire payment form, submit, then receive a rejection 24–48 hours later citing missing documentation or regulatory requirements they never knew about.
After
Compliance wizard runs in parallel with payment setup. As users select recipient country and amount, relevant regulations appear contextually with plain-language explanations and specific document requirements. Informed by my Deutsche Bank compliance eLearning design work.
Impact
First-attempt payment success rate improved from 62% to 78%. Compliance rejection turnaround from 48hrs to real-time.
Settlement Visibility
Before
Payment status was binary: ‘pending’ or ‘complete.’ Users had no insight into where their money was in the correspondent banking chain, when it would arrive, or why delays occurred. Recipients received no notification.
After
SWIFT gpi-integrated timeline shows real-time position of funds through each banking node. Each step shows the institution, estimated timing, and actual completion. Plain-language explanations translate banking jargon into actionable status updates.
Impact
Payment status inquiries reduced 52%. Recipient satisfaction score improved from 3.2 to 4.4/5.
Designed by Rebecka Raj, 2024
Design concepts informed by 3 years of financial platform design at Deutsche Bank, current work at Fidelity Investments, and research conducted across 40+ merchant interviews and competitive analysis of 12 cross-border payment providers.
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