top of page
  • LinkedIn
  • Instagram

Unlocking new streams of revenue in the international markets

Company: Dojo

Role: Senior Product Designer

Year: 2024 & 2025

Intro

In mid-2023, I joined the International Launchpad team at Dojo. We were a small, dynamic team responsible for assessing new markets and conducting discovery work. This included hiring consultancy firms to create detailed market reports, traveling to locations to interview merchants, and testing our product directly with them. Following the initial discovery phase, our primary responsibility was to develop a roadmap for each country: defining the minimum requirements to enter the market, identifying fast-follow opportunities, and determining our unique "right to win."
 

As part of this discovery process, we identified any necessary product changes to accommodate local legal or cultural requirements. Additionally, we explored new revenue opportunities -  this is how the DCC project came about.

Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) was frequently mentioned by Spanish merchants, prompting us to investigate further. But first, what is DCC

What is DCC

Dynamic Currency Conversion allows consumers to make card payments in a foreign country using their home currency at the point of sale. It can be implemented online (e.g., a British customer shopping on a French website could see the cost of goods in GBP instead of EUR) or in-store via a card machine. Considering face-to-face payments is Dojo’s core offering we decided to focus on the in-store experience. There are several pros and cons to consider when exploring DCC, which we’ll delve into further.

Currency selection.jpg

Why DCC?

We had a look at DCC from the perspective of Consumer, Merchant and Dojo and we came up with a list of pros and cons. It was determined that lack of this feature might be actually a blocker to launch in counties like Italy, Spain and France with a lot of international tourists,​

Consumers

Pros

  • It’s easy to compare prices in local and home currency exchange rate is known at the point of sale, there is no need to wait for a bank statement

  • Can avoid foreign transaction charges (usually around 2.5%-3%)

  • DCC FX is usually less favourable than what consumers’ banks would offer, and a markup is added

​

Cons

  • Often poor XR and markup transparency

  • Perceived as taking advantage of low-literate customers who end up paying more

Merchants​

Pros

  • Additional income stream to offset some acquiring fees

  • Better payment experience - certainty & familiarity - for low-literate customers

  • Reduced disputes/chargebacks

​

Cons

  • Extra step in payment flow (currency selection)

Dojo

Pros

  • Earn a share of markup, driving new rev stream for Dojo

  • Additional PC negotiation lever, helping protect service fees

  • Better product/market fit for countries where DCC is common

​

Cons

  • Complex to build

  • CBI prefer a partner approach, reducing Dojo revenue

 DCC is set to be a major revenue driver for Dojo.

3%

Typical DCC markup

33%

Dojo share of DCC markup*

£17m

Potential incremental Dojo rev by FY28**
Screenshot 2025-01-24 at 11.35.31.png

* 3% markup split evenly between merchant, DCC partner & Dojo** Assume 12.5% international payments as % total, of which 15% DCC hit rate across France, Italy, Spain & Ireland

Competitor analysis

Through our research, we discovered that in Spain, Italy, and France, incumbents typically offer DCC, whereas challengers usually do not.​

We had a look at how DCC screens were designed. We quickly found out that some of them are designed very poorly. 

Screenshot 2025-01-24 at 19.15.05.png

Design requirements

According to the scheme regulations:

The shopper must be given the choice to accept DCC, or decline it and pay in the local currency. The shopper must be made aware of the exchange rate used for currency conversion new regulation (EU Regulation No. 2021/1230) forces providers of DCC to display the markup applied for conversion.

​

Not required by regulation, but could improve the experience

  • Some graphic cues (e.g. country flags)

  • Reducing the amount of information

User testing

Test objectives

  • Identify which visual treatment improves the experience and reduces the time the consumer takes to make a decision

  • Identify if there are potential problems with the designs, if anything is missing or if we are overloading consumers with information

  • Use these findings to guide us for future iterations or recommendations

​

Success metrics

  • Customers can scan the screen and assess information on the screen in a quick manner

  • Customers don’t need extra support or explanation regarding options on the screen

Dojo has a duty of care to help consumers make the most informed decision on currency selection

Methodology

30

Interviews

Conducted in Brunel office by me and PM

3

Designs tested

We showed each participant one
design and ask to complete a payment

8

Follow up questions

Each interview was followed by 8 additional questions

Designs

We tested 3 designs. Design 1 is plain on purpose, it works as a baseline. 

Design 1

DCC1.jpg

Design 2

DCC2.jpg

Design 3

DCC3.jpg

Follow-up questions

​

  1. Which option did you choose and why?
     

  2. Was it easy or difficult to compare the two options?
     

  3. Did you understand which currency the markup was applied to? (EUR or GBP)
     

  4. Can you quickly recall how much the mark up was?
     

  5. Is there anything you liked or disliked about the design? Is there anything missing?
     

  6. Have you seen similar screens on card machines in the past and how do they compare to this design?
     

  7. How would you rate this design on a scale of 1-5 (1 being extremely difficult to understand)?
     

  8. Any final comments or suggestions?

 

Summary


Euros vs pounds

13/30 (around 43%) choose GBP - 2 (change their mind later). This is a lot higher than the average DCC hit rate of 15%. We were very shocked by this result.

​

Markup

The markup was very confusing to users. Only 11 people out of 30 understand which currency markup applied to and only a few recalled correctly the markup value.

​

Layout

People felt overwhelmed with the amount of info, especially if it’s not broken down into easy-to-scan chunks. Most testers liked the flags, with no preference for GBP vs £, but found symbols slightly more aesthetic. Design 2, design 3 was close next and design 1 was rated the lowest.

 

Exchange rate

The copy next to euros on Designs 2 and 3 "Ex. rate by your Card issuer” was a bit confusing. Also, most people felt unsettled by not knowing how much the issuer could charge them later.

 

Previous experience with DCC

Most testers claimed they never saw markup info, and barely recall seeing exchange rate.

Final designs

Below is the final payment flow with the DCC screen with new Dojo brand. Dojo has teamed up with 3rd party provider for DCC, currently, we support 40 currencies but working on increasing it to over 100. 

Currency selection.jpg
Success [two].jpg

Business impact

Launch (Visa & Mastercard only):

Spain

October 2024

Italy & Ireland

December 2024

United Kingdom

February 2025

Conversion
Adoption:

20%

overall conversion

80k

customers across 4 markets

30%

conversion in Spain in tourist areas/periods

95%

from UK

Estimated revenue for all 4 markets:

£1m

Revenue estimated by the end of June 2025

Designing seamless experiences that help partners integrate into the Dojo ecosystem​​

bottom of page