Making cross-border payments faster and simpler for businesses
Global payments for business banking customers
Introduction
Business customers increasingly expect their bank to support both domestic and international transactions. At Allica this wasn’t yet possible. Customers were limited to UK transfers and relied on third-party providers for cross-border payments. This project set out to change that, by designing an international payments solution powered by a partnership with Wise.
Problem
Business banking customers could not send international payments within Allica. Limited to UK transfers, they turned to third-party services, which meant Allica was missing out on potential revenue and weakening customer retention.
My role
As the product designer on this project, I was responsible for shaping the user experience from discovery through to delivery. My work included competitor analysis, API documentation review, low-fidelity wireframing, stakeholder workshops, and the creation of high-fidelity designs. I collaborated closely with a project manager, engineers and Wise to ensure the UX aligned with both business goals and technical constraints.
Project kick-off
To kick-off the project, together with a project manager & engineer, we filled a series of canvases in Miro. The first being a product canvas where we outlined the goals, metrics, target group and picture of the project.
SWOT analysis
The project began with a collaborative workshop in Miro alongside a project manager and engineer. We mapped out a series of canvases, starting with the product canvas to define goals, success metrics, target customers and the big-picture vision.
MoSCoW
We also created a MoSCoW board to capture the 'must haves', 'should haves', 'could haves' and 'won’t haves' for the feature. This exercise helped us align on priorities and set clear expectations for delivery.
Challenges
Designing around a third-party API
The Wise API dictated much of the payment flow, including required fields, validation rules, and error handling. The challenge was creating a seamless user experience while working within these constraints.
Handling edge cases and compliance requirements
International payments vary widely by currency and country. Designing for multiple scenarios — such as additional required fields or error states — meant balancing complexity without overwhelming the user.
Aligning multiple stakeholders
With Allica and Wise both involved, priorities sometimes differed. It was important to present low-fidelity wireframes early, get alignment quickly and adjust designs to satisfy both business and technical requirements.
Ensuring clarity in a high-stakes flow
Transferring money internationally involves trust. The UX needed to reduce friction while still providing transparency about rates, fees, and statuses — requiring careful content and interaction design.
Allica x Wise
To enable international payments, Allica partnered with Wise. This integration allowed business customers to transfer money abroad in multiple currencies including EUR, USD, INR and more directly within the Allica platform.
The graphic below shows the Wise API’s 'happy path' but the real challenge lay in accounting for complexity. We mapped additional scenarios such as required fields for different payment types, error handling and flows for Wise account creation.
We had regular touch points with the team at Wise to discuss the API, UX & delivery requirements.
I reviewed Wise’s API documentation to understand its behaviour and ensure the UX aligned with both the happy path and all relevant edge cases.
Competitor Analysis
To better understand Wise’s user experience in practice, I looked at how other FinTechs had embedded Wise into their products. This research helped me see the flow end-to-end and identify how it could best fit within the Allica ecosystem.
Wise
Up Bank (Australian FinTech)
Aspire (Singaporian FinTech)
Wireframes
I began with low-fidelity wireframes to map out the core information, content, and user flows. Presenting these to stakeholders at Allica and Wise enabled rapid feedback, helping us identify issues early and refine the experience before investing in high-fidelity design.
A new international payment experience for business banking customers
After validating the UX, I created the high-fidelity designs. Below is a selection of screens and videos that illustrate how the international payments flow comes to life within Allica.
First time user
First time user
Payments screen
Recent payees / Empty state
Recent payees / Filled state
Quote screen
The quote screen is where customers enter the amount they want to send in their chosen currency. Below are a series of states illustrating how this screen adapts to different inputs and scenarios.
You send
Recipient gets
Filled
You send / Error state
Recipient gets / Error state
Error state / Keyboard closed
Transaction details
Transaction details are displayed differently depending on the payment status and currency. Below is an example of a USD payment in pending and sent states.
🇺🇸 USD / Pending
🇺🇸 USD / Sent
Add payee flows
Adding a payee isn’t the same in every case, the fields customers need to complete depend on the currency and country they’re sending money to. Below are examples of ‘Add payee’ flows, highlighting how the design adapts to different requirements.
🇪🇺 EUR
Recipient region
Recipient type
IBAN added
Full flow
🇺🇸 USD
Add USD payee
Recipient country
Filled
Full flow
🇮🇳 INR
Add INR payee
Recipient type
Completed
Full flow
🇨🇳 CNY
Add CNY payee
Recipient type
Completed
Full flow
Impact
The launch of international payments gave Allica’s business customers the ability to send funds abroad directly within the platform, in multiple currencies including EUR, USD and INR. This reduced reliance on third-party providers, created a more seamless customer experience and unlocked a new revenue stream for the business. It also strengthened Allica’s competitiveness against other challenger banks offering cross-border payments.
Reflection
This project reinforced the importance of designing with third-party APIs in mind. Understanding the Wise API documentation early helped me anticipate technical constraints and design for both the happy path and more complex edge cases. Collaborating closely with Wise and Allica stakeholders also highlighted the value of iterative feedback, ensuring the final solution balanced customer needs, compliance and technical feasibility.