Money that hasn't arrived yet

A payout date is a promise. For a long time ours was a single day.

A payout scheduled for Thursday usually arrives on Thursday. Sometimes it reaches the seller’s account on Friday. Sometimes a public holiday pushes it to Monday. The date on our screen was right for us, because it was the day the money left Klaring. It was wrong for the seller, who cared about the day it arrived.

We tried adding precision: the time of the transfer, then a line about bank processing times. Neither helped. A single date reads like a guarantee. When it slips, sellers start doubting the rest of the page.

So we changed what the page promises. A payout now has three states, and each one says only what we actually know.

Scheduled. The amount can still change, because new refunds or disputes can come in before the cutoff. We show the cutoff time next to the amount.

On its way. The amount is final and the money has left us. We show the day it left and when it usually arrives, as a range: “Arrives Thursday or Friday.”

Paid. The transfer has gone through and hasn’t come back. We show the date and the payment reference, so the payout can be found on a statement.

The range was the hard sell. People worried it would look vague. In testing it did the opposite. Sellers read “Thursday or Friday” as honest, and the Thursday afternoon emails to support dried up.

A few things I now bring to any screen that shows money in motion.

Put the state before the amount. “On its way: €1,240.50” reads differently from “€1,240.50” with a small gray label next to it.

Say what can still change next to the number that can change, not in a help article.

Show people what their bank will show them. The payment reference was a small addition, and it’s the one sellers thanked us for.

Don’t round. Rounded amounts look friendly until someone tries to match them to a statement.

This is a longer version of a talk I gave at a product design meetup in Amsterdam in May.