VENMO CONCEPT
Venmo, without borders
Venmo’s users are already global. Venmo isn’t, yet. This case study assumes international payments are enabled and focuses on one experience problem: making sure what you send and what is received are both explicit before you hit send. Infrastructure, compliance, and regulatory requirements are assumed to be in place.
Outcomes
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Received amount recognized as the priority
All users identified it as the most important number, confirming the hierarchy shift worked.
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Full cost understood before authorization
All users chose the redesigned flow over the original experience.
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No abandonment due to cost confusion
All participants completed the payment without pausing or requesting clarification.
**Based on two rounds of moderated usability testing with 10 participants - designers, engineers, business professionals, and international users across diverse backgrounds.
“If Venmo worked like this abroad, I’d stop using everything else. This just makes sense.”
Usability tester,
Product Designer
Context
Venmo’s simplicity is the product
Venmo works because it’s feels like messaging, not banking. You pay your friend via their handle, not their account number. That’s why people choose it over their bank app.
But Venmo stops at the border
Venmo has over 90 million users, all domestic. The global P2P payments market is projected to reach $16 trillion by 2034. The infrastructure gap isn’t just a product problem, its a missed market.
Today, those 90 million users split dinner in Paris, send birthday gifts to Seoul, and have family in countries Venmo can’t reach.
When they cross a border, Venmo can’t follow. The need doesn’t disappear because the infrastructure hasn’t caught up yet.
Why the numbers don’t match
What changes across borders
Venmo’s simplicity relies on domestic banking rails, where costs and currencies are consistent. What you send is what is received.
Cross-border transfers introduce exchange rate shifts and intermediary fees. Those costs create a difference between what the sender pays and what the recipient gets.
What you send vs. what they get
Two numbers, one transaction
Cross-border payments breaks that ease. What you enter and what is received are no longer the same number. Without visibility into both, someone always falls short.
Senders anchor on what they’re entering, not what lands on the other side. That’s where expectations break down.
“Venmo just works in the most simple way possible. If it worked globally and I could trust the rates, I would use Venmo forever.”
Usability tester
“Exchange rates and fees are confusing. I just want to know exactly what I’m paying upfront.”
Usability tester
How might we bring transparency across every touchpoint in the experience?
Design rationale
Shift the reference point
** The following decisions shape the international payment flow from amount entry to final confirmation.
Most apps lead with the sent amount. It’s familiar, but it anchors the sender on the wrong number. If the goal is to ensure the recipient gets exactly what they’re owed, the hierarchy needs to flip.
Internationally, the sent and received amounts are never the same. Here, the received amount leads.
The received amount leads. No mental math, no surprises on the other side.
Full visibility before authorization
Fees are broken down as two distinct line items: international transfer fee and currency conversion fee. So, the sender knows exactly what they’re paying and why.
The exchange rate is shown alongside a 30-day history, so the sender can evaluate the rate without switching to another app. The rate locks for 8 hours so if the rate is favorable, the sender can act on it with confidence.
Every fee, broken down. The sender knows exactly what they’re paying before they confirm.
The mid-market rate, the fairest benchmark available, shown alongside a 30-day history. No markups, no guessing.
Context before cost
Exchange rates appear first, before any amount is entered, so the user has a reference point. Fees appear once there’s an amount to attach them to.
By authorization, nothing is new. Each variable has already been seen and understood before the final screen.
Exchange rates appear first.
Establishing baseline context,before any amount is entered.
Fees revealed only after an amount is entered.
Nothing feels arbitrary.
Core experience: 93% average completion rate
The key tasks results were in:
Task
Completed
- International payment
100%
- Checking exchange rates & fees
100%
- Checking included fees
93%
- Sending final payment
100%
- Viewing payment details
82%
- Requesting money
93%
- International request
93%
What if Venmo just worked abroad?
No surprises before you confirm
Venmo’s international payment flow makes the received amount and total cost explicit before authorization, so the sender knows exactly what they’re paying, and the recipient gets exactly what was intended.
THE PAY SCREEN
Full visibility before you confirm
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The received amount leads the hierarchy
Every variable is visible. Trust isn’t assumed, it’s earned through clarity.
THE INTERNATIONAL PAY FLOW
Every step, accounted for
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From amount entry to final confirmation
Full transparency through every step. No reason to pause, second guess, or go elsewhere to verify.
** A video walkthrough is shown here to preserve the integrity of a specific transaction. The experience is built around a set amount and sequence that a static prototype wouldn’t communicate clearly.
THE REVIEW SCREEN
No competing actions, no ambiguity
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Pay or request is selected before the flow continues
Competing CTAS create ambiguity. A segmented control removes it. The sender declares intent first, so what follows is unambiugous.
What this unlocks
What clarity brings
By making total cost explicit at authorization, the flow aligns with how users evaluate transactions: what is received vs. what is sent.
This reduces hesitation at the point of decision, so payments complete the first time.
Over time, international payments become predictable and repeatable.
“This feels like Venmo, but smarter. I would actually use this when traveling with my friends.”
Usability tester,
Engineer
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AXIS
Turning exploration into clarity
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88% adoption rate
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42% increase in engagement
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All users discovered unexpected resources
Mobile design
End-to-end experience
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