Design a PayPal Feature That Helps Groups Split and Settle Shared Costs

You are a product manager at PayPal and want to design a new feature that makes splitting payments easier for users. Explain how you interpret "splitting payments", which users you would build for and what makes splitting hard for them today, which solution you would ship first and why, and how you would measure whether it works. ```hint Follow the money until it is settled Before proposing features, trace one shared cost from the moment someone pays the whole amount to the moment every share is paid back, and notice where that journey stalls or depends on awkward workarounds. ``` ### Clarifying Questions - Does "splitting payments" mean dividing one shared cost among several people, or letting a single buyer pay for a purchase in installments? - Should the feature cover only transfers between PayPal users, or also purchases made through PayPal checkout and participants who have no PayPal account? - Is the main goal more engagement with person-to-person payments, new-user acquisition, or more payment volume? - Which markets are in scope, given that PayPal also owns Venmo in the United States? ### What a Strong Answer Covers - A clear interpretation of "splitting" and a goal for PayPal that the feature serves - A chosen segment, such as the person who fronts a group cost or roommates with recurring bills, with concrete pain points in calculating, requesting, tracking and settling shares - Several solution options prioritized by impact and effort, ending in a specific first version - A success metric tied to shares actually being paid, plus guardrails for request scams, unwanted requests and fees - Risks specific to money between friends: social awkwardness, disputes over amounts, fraud and overlap with Venmo ### Follow-up Questions - Venmo, also owned by PayPal, is widely used for splitting costs among friends in the United States. Why build this in PayPal, and how would the two products differ? - How would you let someone without a PayPal account pay their share without opening a path for scams? - Early data shows many splits are created but a large share remain unpaid after a week. What would you change?