Payments That Don’t Work When You Need Them

Nigeria processes trillions in digital transactions yearly, yet paying for something remains a gamble.

The biggest problems?

• POS Machines Fail – You tap your card, and nothing happens. The machine beeps, then says “Declined.” But your bank still debits you.

• Transfers Are Slow & Unreliable – You send money, but it doesn’t reflect. The seller stares, waiting. The line behind you grows longer.

• Cash Isn't Always an Option – ATMs run dry, and not everyone carries cash.

These failures weren’t just technical issues—they were human problems. They caused frustration, delays, and even loss of income for small business owners who depended on every sale.

Kowe wasn’t just building another fintech product. We were building a payment system that people could trust.

More Than Just Design

I wasn’t just designing screens—I was solving real-world payment frustrations. My work spanned across:

📊 User Research & Strategy
I wanted to go beyond surface-level insights. Surveys were helpful, but they didn’t capture raw frustration the way social media did.

I scoured X (formerly Twitter), customer complaint forums, and even TikTok videos where users ranted about failed transactions. I documented every issue and looked for patterns:

• What made people rage-tweet about a failed payment?

• What payment method were they using when it happened?

• What did they wish was different?

These insights shaped the entire product experience—I knew exactly where to remove friction.

🎨 High-Fidelity UI & UX Writing
Once the core problems were clear, I crafted an experience that made payments effortless. The UI was stripped of clutter, and the microcopy was rewritten to reassure users at every step.

Instead of generic “Transaction in progress”, we wrote:
"Your payment is secure. If there’s an issue, we’ll retry automatically."

This small shift made a huge difference—it reduced payment anxiety and kept users from immediately retrying and doubling their charges.

⚡ Scalable Design System
Fintech products are complex. Multiple payment flows. Different transaction states. A product that scales needs a design system that scales.

I built a modular, scalable design system that:

• Cut design & implementation time by 32% – New features could be shipped faster with pre-built UI components.

• Simplified developer handoff – Engineers could pull design specs without endless Slack messages or guesswork.

• Created consistency across platforms – Whether a user was tapping to pay, scanning to pay, or using the merchant dashboard, the experience remained seamless.

👨‍💻 Cross-functional Collaboration
I didn't do it all, I worked alongside:
👨‍💻 5 Engineers – Ensuring NFC and QR integrations were seamless.
🗂️ 1 Product Manager – Aligning business goals with user needs.
🎨 1 other Product Designer – While they handled wireframing, I refined the final UI.

By the time we were ready for our invite-only launch, we weren’t just delivering a well-designed app—we were delivering a payment experience built for trust.

The Solution: Tap or Scan—That’s It.

After weeks of research, analyzing user complaints on X (formerly Twitter), diving into customer frustration threads, and conducting 15 in-depth interviews, the solution became clear:

✅ Tap to Pay – Users could link their debit or credit cards to Kowe Wallet and pay instantly via NFC-enabled devices.

✅ Scan to Pay – A seamless QR-based alternative for non-NFC users, reducing dependence on unreliable POS terminals.

No more declined transactions. No more waiting for transfers to reflect. Just a tap or a scan, and you’re done.

Building Trust in a Broken System

Nigeria has no shortage of fintech apps. But after years of failed transactions, delayed refunds, and security breaches, users didn’t trust them anymore.

We couldn’t just build a better product—we had to make people believe in it.

🔐 Security Messaging that Reassures
Users needed to know their money was safe. I rewrote key UX copy to reinforce this at critical points.

Instead of a vague “Processing Payment”, I used:
"Your transaction is encrypted and bank-verified. No hidden charges. No risks."

This wasn’t just about clarity—it was about psychological reassurance.

🎨 Familiarity in Design
Instead of reinventing the wheel, I studied existing banking apps and borrowed familiar UI patterns. Users shouldn’t have to “learn” how to make a payment—they should just know.

📲 Seamless Onboarding = Higher Trust
A complicated signup process is almost unavoidable when you consider regulatory requirements, but it signals a complicated product.

By simplifying onboarding and cutting setup time by 25%, we increased user adoption without users feeling overwhelmed.

Every detail mattered. Every decision was made to build trust, not just functionality.