Case Study
Multi-currenncy Accounts
This is a brief overview of this project (6 min read)
My role
User Interface Designer
User Experience Designer
Interaction Designer
First let me tell you about Paga
Paga is a leading mobile money company that is building an ecosystem to enable people to digitally send and receive money, and creating simple financial access for everyone.
Overview
In 2024, I led the design of one of Paga's most ambitious projects yet — the Multi-Currency Account (MCA) experience. This product allows Nigerians, both at home and abroad, to open and manage USD accounts directly from the Paga app. I was the sole designer on this project and worked cross-functionally with product managers, engineers, compliance officers, and external partners to bring the vision to life.
Over a 12-month period, I crafted a seamless user experience, modernized the Paga interface, and created a robust design system that not only served this product but laid the groundwork for future updates. This case study is a brief walkthrough of that journey.
Why are we doing this?
While millions of Nigerians were using Paga to send and receive Naira, a growing number of users were seeking a way to receive, save, and spend in USD — especially
Freelancers and remote workers earning in USD
Diaspora Nigerians wanting to send money home
Nigerians abroad needing to pay for local services
Businesses that require access to USD banking
Key challenges
Limited access to USD accounts in Nigeria
High costs and delays in cross-border transactions
Cumbersome KYC processes
Inconsistent regulatory frameworks between Nigeria and the US
What we aim to achieve
Our goals were ambitious but grounded in the needs of our users and the vision for Paga’s future. I set out to transform not just the product, but how people experience financial freedom within and beyond Nigeria:
Deliver a seamless onboarding and account creation experience
Modernize Paga’s visual language and flows
Improve trust and conversion across borders
Improve our foreign exchange (FX) revenue
Enable the first Nigerian USD virtual card linked to Apple and Google Pay
Taking a deep dive
To validate our assumptions, I interviewed users in both Nigeria and the US. The message was clear: people wanted a reliable way to receive and hold FX without losing value to exchange rates or fees. Whether it was freelancers in Lagos or diaspora workers in New York, everyone needed a simpler, more trustworthy solution. These conversations directly shaped how we designed onboarding, KYC, and communication.
Product Strategy: USD Accounts for Everyone
We defined three key personas below while the first release focused on consumers, with businesses planned for version 2.
Nigerian residents who earn in or want to save in USD
Diaspora users who live abroad but need to send money or pay for services in Nigeria
Businesses needing to create and manage USD accounts for operations
Design process
I started by mapping the end-to-end user journey — from onboarding and KYC verification to funding accounts, managing transactions, and dealing with compliance-related edge cases. With this foundation, I moved into Figma to sketch early wireframes, test assumptions, and build high-fidelity prototypes. I paid close attention to the smallest details, knowing that currency flows, trust, and clarity were critical for a product that would deal with both dollars and naira.
Midway through, I realized that our existing UI patterns wouldn't scale. So I paused feature work and created a new design system for Paga — one that supported multi-currency, was accessibility-minded, and adaptable for future use cases across the app.
Throughout the process, I worked closely with engineers to validate design feasibility, led QA walkthroughs to ensure pixel-perfect execution, and synced regularly with legal and compliance teams to accommodate sensitive flows.
Onboarding
Road blocks
Compliance Roadblocks
Users signing up with US documents couldn’t create NGN accounts due to KYC constraints. We introduced a persistent NGN proxy account solution as a workaround.
Delays in Release
We underestimated the time it would take to align with US compliance teams and build integrations with our foreign partners
Regulatory Sensitivity in Nigeria
Due to potential government scrutiny, we had to adjust how we marketed the product locally, ensuring we emphasized compliance and limited messaging around "holding USD."
Card Activation Complexities
Integration with Apple and Google Pay required extensive coordination with Visa and our partner banks. We were the first Nigerian USD card to do this.
Let's design
The moment I truly came alive was when I dove into Figma. After all the user journeys, research, and edge-case planning, this was my favorite part — transforming strategy into tangible, clickable experiences. Crafting the flows, sweating the UI details, and seeing the product take shape visually was incredibly rewarding. Figma became my playground for precision and creativity, where every component came together to form a seamless, intuitive experience.
Onboarding
Dashboard
Funding
Send Money
Transaction History and Receipts
Cards
Settings
Curtain call
This project pushed me to design across jurisdictions, regulations, and time zones. It challenged me to think systemically, stay flexible, and lead through ambiguity. I had to balance innovation with compliance, creativity with caution — and yet, through it all, never lose sight of the user.
What I’m most proud of isn’t just the features we launched, but the lives we made simpler — the freelancer in Lagos, the nurse in Houston, the student in Enugu. For them, this product wasn’t just a new account. It was a bridge.
And that, to me, is the true power of design.
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