Low-income Indian merchants face frequent financial fraud on GooglePay
Targeted redesign to improve transaction validation and access to support
-> Team of 2
-> UI/UX designer
-> Coursework project
-> 3 weeks
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Research
Digital payments have seen extraordinary growth in the Global South, especially India, where over 51% of adults use mobile payments as of 2022. This growth is largely driven by government initiatives to promote cashless transactions, such as the Unified Payments Interface (UPI; read below).
Even though UPI has democratised digital transactions for millions, the focus of most research and innovation remains customer-centric. Hence, merchants' needs receive limited attention. This is a serious problem for small-scale merchants whose livelihood depends on technical adoption.
While conducting literature review for this project, we were drawn to a research article titled:
“Who is protecting us? No one!” Vulnerabilities Experienced by Low-Income Indian Merchants Using Digital Payments,
authored by Pranjal Jain, Rama Adithya Varanasi, and Nicola Dell. This paper forms the basis for our work, including their contribution of primary user research.
Please explore (to the right) the authors' impressive research in this domain.
UPI, developed by India’s National Payments Corporation, enables instant money transfers between banks through a single smartphone app interface. Each user creates a “virtual payment address” (VPA) linked to their bank account, so sensitive information like account numbers isn’t required for each transaction. Users can make payments via a recipient’s phone number, QR code, or VPA, with authentication secured by a PIN. The system relies on Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) infrastructure, ensuring funds are transferred instantly, even outside banking hours. UPI has become the backbone of digital payments in India due to its flexibility and reliability.
The kirana store
Kirana stores are small, family-run grocery shops that are at the heart of Indian community commerce. These mom-and-pop shops are hubs for local news and social interaction. Shopkeepers know regulars by name and even extend informal lines of credit.
With rising competition from large-scale retailers and quick-commerce (e.g. Blinkit and Instamart) which offer rapid delivery and enticing discounts, kirana stores face increasing pressure to modernise. For survival, they have begun adopting UPI payment platforms ike PhonePe and Google Pay.
However, a majority of kirana shop owners come from modest or working class backgrounds. They often lack the digital literacy required to interact with payment apps. A minimal understanding of UPI architecture creates concern and reduces adoption rates.
Given the central role it plays in suburban communities, this project is centered around the humble kirana store.
User research
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The research article investigates fraud and vulnerability challenges that low-income Indian merchants face with UPI. Based on interviews with 34 participants (24 merchants and 10 onboarding agents), the study found 4 major vulnerability types:
Access-based: Barriers to secure, easy-to-use payment options
Identity-based: Risks of identity theft and misuse of personal data
Financial: Direct financial loss risks due to scam tactics
Informational: Limited, unclear communication from the platform
Patterns also emerged in the researchers' exploration of common fraud tactics:
Fake payment confirmations that merchants struggle to verify
Delayed SMS alerts, leaving users unsure of payment success
Social engineering fraud, often due to language and tech literacy barriers
Limited support access, increasing the risk of user error and financial loss
Source: “Who is protecting us? No one!” Vulnerabilities Experienced by Low-Income
Indian Merchants Using Digital Payments
While the target audience for this study was well-defined, broader user motivation and expectations remained unclear. To reflect this better, I created a user persona of a typical kirana store owner in suburban India.
To contextualise the user persona for Google Pay, I used a journey map. This was especially relevant because of the multiple stages encountered during a merchant's interaction with the app (pre-transaction, post-transaction etc.).
Building on emotional insights and opportunities from the user journey map, I audited existing screens to identify problem areas. This built the foundation for ideation in the upcoming interface design phase.
Hard-to-access or non-unique information means greater effort from a merchant to confirm transaction status
Critical transaction information is too small for users to double-check
Recipient name emphasised but this is a non-unique identifier
Home page banner lacking shortcuts for urgent tasks
Defrauded merchants need immediate access to support and resources but this is overshadowed by promotional material
Merchants can't estimate the scale or nature of the reporting process, which is crucial for a low-income worker
Ticket card lacks supportive actions
and language
Opaque and repetitive information about ticket resolution status
Lot of scope to improve empathy and attention to user needs
To visualise the structure and functionality that a merchant would engage with during their typical usage of Google Pay, I created a user flow diagram. With this, I was able to identify cyclic issues and decision points where improvements could be made.
I sketched initial solutions based on the 3 problem areas and user flow diagram. Low-fidelity sketching allowed me to experiment with potential improvements and animations.
For each of the 3 problem areas, we created a set of solutions that added interface elements and microinteractions such that Google Pay functionality wasn't unrealistically overwritten. I was responsible for producing the new screen designs.
Earlier signifiers are easy to fake and hard to recognise by merchants. New signifiers (profile image and elapsed time clock) cannot be reproduced easily and are visually perceptible.
Transaction date and time emphasised for easy validation
Dynamic time status
to tackle static screenshot fakes
Prominent green tick to reflect transaction status
User-inputted profile picture as unique identifier for transaction
Bonus: GooglePay already links to a user’s Gmail account and displays the associated profile image. This will just have to be transferred to the transaction status page.
An at-risk user will require the quickest path to assistance. Especially if it’s a suspected case of fraud, then all actions become time-sensitive. Shortcuts to fraud support reduce delay.
Banner highlights direct path to fraud reporting
Microcopy to reassure defrauded users and establish credibility in the process
In sensitive scenarios like scams and frauds, a user needs as much information as possible. Describing the resolution process and providing stage-wise updates builds trust.
Shortcut to contact support team for current ticket
Clearer ticket resolution status and nudge to follow-up
Displays call connection status to free up the user to interact with other elements
Instantaneous update to shortcut state
Alternate actions a defrauded user can pursue while waiting for a call
Video call assistance for defrauded users unfamiliar with the platform
Timeline for ticket resolution with expected dates and results
Current phase details and further related actions or support
🚧 Watch this space
To adhere to the short timeframe of a coursework project, we chose not to conduct usability testing. As of September 2024, we're gathering a sample of merchants in India for a semi-structured interview based on our solutions. Post-testing, we look forward to submitting our results to the Google Pay design team.
This project emphasised the significance of secondary perspectives (in this case, merchants) in experience design. Through deep analysis of the unique context of low-income users and how it shapes their interaction, I learned to translate sociotechnical factors into emotive design. It was especially enlightening because I had limited familiarity with designing for this user group.
The collaborative process was also fairly new to me. I enjoyed collective brainstorming and developed an appropriate way to log team notes with my collaborator. Leveraging our individual strengths provided me with an important sense of agency and task ownership. Since this was a redesign project, conforming to Google Pay's design system and guidelines was a pivotal lesson.
-> Expand user personas: In its current scope, the project is limited to kirana store owners and the domestic sector. It would be interesting to see how other sectors (e.g. healthcare) might have varied interaction with digital payments.
-> Test real-time features: Interaction feedback that extends beyond visual cues, such as the in-app payment alert, needs to be thoroughly tested in a marketplace scenario.
-> Explore other digital payment methods: As the digital payment landscape is everchanging, a broader exploration that redesigned multiple platforms (e.g. PhonePe, PayTm) would be a significant contribution to ongoing research.
GooglePay
by Nishtha Das & team