Project Background:

It was a Tuesday afternoon when I tried to send my friend money for dinner through my Chevron Federal Credit Union (CFCU) app. I entered the amount, hit send, and—error. "Transfer amount exceeds daily limit." But here's the thing: I had no idea what my daily limit actually was.

As someone who's been banking with CFCU for years, this moment of confusion stuck with me. I found myself wondering: Am I the only one who doesn't know these limits? And why is this information so hard to find?

Problem statement:

Users often lack clear visibility of their Zelle sending limits, leading to transfer errors and frustration. Improving transparency and guidance around these limits can help users send money more confidently and seamlessly.

That frustrating experience sparked my curiosity. I decided to dig deeper and find out if other people shared this same issue. I crafted a survey and reached out to 132 people across different demographics, asking them about their peer-to-peer payment habits.

The results were eye-opening:

• 99% of people send money through online accounts

• 98% use peer-to-peer platforms like Zelle, Venmo, or PayPal

• 82% expect transfers to take less than 2 minutes

Most importantly, 77% of respondents had no idea what their daily transfer limits were.

I wasn't alone in my frustration. Three out of four people were navigating these platforms blind to one of their most important constraints.

Among those who did check their limits when needed, the experience was mixed:

• 69% found the information easily accessible

• 31% struggled to locate their limits even when actively looking

This told me we had two problems: awareness and accessibility. Most people didn't know their limits, and even those who tried to find out sometimes couldn't.

Learning from the Competition

I decided to investigate how different financial institutions handle this challenge. I analyzed four platforms: Chase, Bank of America, CFCU, and Revolut. Here's what I gathered:

Chase got it right. They prominently displayed the daily limit ($10,000) right in the interface, giving users transparency from the start.

Bank of America and CFCU took the "error-first" approach—hiding limits until users hit them, then delivering the bad news without much helpful context. CFCU was particularly problematic, not even sharing the actual limit amount when the error occurred.

Revolut buried their limits in FAQ pages, leaving users to hunt for critical information.

The pattern was clear: most platforms were reactive rather than proactive, waiting for problems to occur instead of preventing them.

Based on the information above, it is clear that 77% of respondents do not know their daily sending limit. Among those who check, 69% find it easy to locate the limit, while 31% do not.

The Design Challenge

Looking at this landscape, I realized the opportunity. How might we help users understand their limits before they become a barrier? How could we turn a moment of frustration into one of confidence?

For CFCU, I knew we needed to balance transparency with their smaller scale compared to major banks. Users might not encounter limit errors as frequently, but when they do, the experience should be educational, not just preventative.

The Solution: Transparency with Empathy

I designed an improved error experience that addresses both awareness and guidance:

What I added:

• Clear timeframe context: "daily limit" instead of just "limit"

• The actual limit amount displayed prominently

• Helpful next steps: maintained the original "Please try a smaller amount" guidance

• Educational framing that helps users understand the constraint

Why this approach worked for CFCU: Since CFCU serves a smaller user base than Chase or Bank of America, I chose to improve the error experience rather than adding constant limit displays. This way, users learn their limits organically when relevant, without cluttering the everyday interface.