PayGlocal, India, RBI-regulated
Fintech
Chief Design Officer, then Fractional CDO
4 years
How a modular checkout took PayGlocal’s payment success rate above 95%
PayGlocal is a cross-border payment gateway in India. Its rules change often, and each type of payment asks for different information.
I joined as Chief Design Officer in January 2022. In June 2023 I moved to a fractional role, and I stayed until January 2026.
The new checkout and the design system behind it took the payment success rate above 95%+.
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95%+
Payment success rate
05
Designers I led
$12M
Series B, June 2022. I designed the deck
04 years
Full-time, then fractional
The problem
A cross-border payment is not one flow. The card's country and region decide which fields the checkout must ask for, such as the postal code of the card's origin. Each country and region has its own compliance rules, so the requirements change often.
For a payment to go through, the card number, postal code and CVV must match, and the customer must be able to read and complete every field. PayGlocal's checkout put several columns of mixed information on one screen, with a separate design for each use case. Every new rule meant a rebuild. There was a product, but no design system behind it. Changes piled up, and the experience grew uneven.
“A checkout should ask only for what this payment needs.”
— Satyen Aghor
The server rack idea
I thought of the checkout as a server rack. Instead of a separate design for each use case, I built modular trays that stack in a single column.
Take two buyers paying the same merchant in India. One pays with a Visa card from the US. The checkout loads three trays: card details, billing address and 3-D Secure. The other pays with Klarna from Canada. It loads two: Klarna and Klarna approval. Both run on the same rack.
The checkout shows what each payment needs, and nothing else.
What I shipped
As Chief Design Officer, Jan 2022 to Jun 2023
The modular checkout and the design system behind it.
The Series B pitch deck. PayGlocal raised $12M in June 2022.
Brand: logo, website and marketing collateral. I directed 3D promo videos.
Worked with founders on vision, mission and goals. Supported Sales with client presentations. Shaped HR material such as newsletters, retreats and welcome kits.
Led 5 designers. Worked with front-end developers so the design shipped as designed.
As Fractional CDO, Jun 2023 to Jan 2026
Redesigned the Merchant Admin dashboards and reporting on the same system.
Hired and trained new designers, and kept brand and product consistent.
What it did
Payment success rate went above 95%+ after the redesign.