Increasing automatic withdrawals adoption
Industry
Fintech
At
Deel
Date
Feb - Apr 2024
Problem or opportunity area
Many contractors on Deel get paid on a regular schedule and tend to withdraw their earnings manually as soon as they arrive. Deel’s automatic withdrawal feature allowed contractors to send earnings directly to one of their accounts—but it suffered from low visibility, accidental activation, and low adoption. Many contractors were unaware that the feature existed, while others turned it off almost immediately due to confusion or limited flexibility.
I identified an opportunity to increase adoption and reduce friction by redesigning the experience to make it more discoverable, intentional, and customizable, ultimately supporting more complex financial behaviors.
My role
I led the product discovery and research for this initiative, surfacing behavioral insights through Amplitude dashboards and contractor interviews. I designed and tested multiple UX iterations, collaborated closely with engineers on edge cases and backend feasibility, and worked with stakeholders across design, product, and compliance to align on a more powerful, user-centered solution.
solution
An automatic withdrawal flow that lets contractors send their salary payments to more than 1 account (including their Deel Card) in different percentages and even leave some funds in Deel. The flow makes it easy to turn on/off on demand and allows customization without confusion.
Key outcomes and results
Success metrics (on the third month post-launch)
📈 +29% increase in unique users with automatic withdrawals — from 34K to 44K
💸 +$43M increase in monthly automatic withdrawal volume — from $122.6M to $165.5M/month
🎉 Churn dropped from 15% to 6% — defined as users disabling the feature within the same week
Business and customer impact
Drove passive, recurring revenue by increasing the volume of automatic transactions—generating more earnings from withdrawal fees and FX conversion without added user effort.
Reduced operational overhead by minimizing confusion and support cases related to accidental activations or unclear settings.
Improved user satisfaction and control by aligning the experience with real financial behaviors—like splitting earnings across accounts or retaining funds in Deel.
Qualitative impact
We set up full event tracking in Amplitude from day one, making this the first Fintech feature at Deel with complete behavioral visibility. This allowed us to clearly see how users were interacting with the flow and catch friction points early. It also became the example for how to involve designers in defining event tracking from the start, and I took the lead in structuring and implementing tracking plans on the vertical.
Validated a product model that is now inspiring future roadmap items, including:
A re-usable UX that we later implemented for other worker types (EOR employees and Global Payroll employees)
Amount-based auto-withdrawals as an alternative to percentages
Exchange rate thresholds
Detail highlights
Jan - May 2025
