Case Study

Budget Management,
for Google Pay

Most people overspend simply because they can't see where money goes. This concept gives Google Pay a way to fund categories, cap spending, and watch it happen, without leaving the app they already pay with.

FinTechMobile UXFeature Design
ProductGoogle Pay (India)
TypeNew feature concept
FocusBudgeting & spend visibility
AudienceEveryday spenders, any income level
The Challenge

Where does the money
actually go?

The problem

In India, everyday spenders lack a clear view of their own outflows. Google Pay had no way to set a limit or watch a category, so overspending was never visible until it had already happened.

  • No visibility into where money actually goes, category by category
  • Spending habits stay invisible until the statement arrives
  • No nudge at the moment of paying, only reports after the fact

The solution

A budgeting layer built into the app itself: create a category, fund it, set a limit, and track every payment against it, turning Google Pay from a payment rail into a place to plan.

The insight

Long before budgeting apps, households did this with labeled envelopes, one for groceries, one for rent, one for savings. Money only left an envelope it belonged to. Most expense trackers just report what already happened; this concept borrows the envelope's real discipline, a small, deliberate check built into the moment of paying, not a summary after it's too late to act.

The Structure

Information
architecture

The goal was to keep Google Pay's existing layout intact and fold budgeting in as a natural extension, a couple of deliberate taps during payment, not a separate app bolted on.

  • Home
    • Budget Management
      • Categories
        • Existing category
          • Category details
        • No category yet
          • Create category
      • Analyze spending
        • Categorized spending
        • Credit / debit ratio
    • Make payment
      • Select category
        • Sufficient balance
          • Pay
        • Insufficient balance
          • Top up category
            • Pay
    • Transaction history
      • Search transaction
        • Categorize payment
The Flow

Four stages,
nine screens

From a home-screen entry point to a full spending breakdown.

Discover Budget Management sits one tap away, on the Google Pay home screen.
Google Pay home screen
Home
Home screen scrolled to the Budget Management entry
Home, scrolled
Set up No categories exist until the user makes one: name it, fund it, set a limit.
Empty state, no predefined categories
Empty state
Create category form with budget toggle
Create category
Track Every payment against a category counts down its budget in real time.
Category created confirmation
Category created
Category fund detail before any spending
Fund, before spend
Category fund detail with transactions
Fund, after spend
Analyze Spending rolls up by category, across every linked account.
Category selection with Analyze Spending action
Select to analyze
Categorized spending breakdown with donut chart
Categorized spending
The Outcome

What it gives users

Most trackers only report what already happened. This adds a check at the moment of spending, not after.

01

Budget setting

A limit per category, so spending stays inside a plan instead of a guess.

02

Expense tracking

Every payment shows up against its category the moment it happens.

03

Fund allocation

Money split across food, travel, shopping, however it's actually spent.

Next up

Real-time alerts when a category gets close to its limit, so overspending gets caught before it happens, not after.

Reflection

My learnings

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