Foundations
Voice and tone
For everyone who writes as Xe, in product, marketing, customer care, and everywhere else. Our voice is precise, honest, and humanly clear.
Precise, honest, and humanly clear.
Overview
Every word is a promise.
We are the cross-border currency transfer expert, the specialist that has moved money across borders since 1993 and does nothing else.
That positioning was defined in the 2026 brand strategy. This guide is where it becomes language: the words in our app, our emails, our ads, our help articles, and our conversations with customers.
Everything we write is a promise about the kind of company we are. A vague error message says we don’t really know what went wrong. A hype-driven headline says we’re compensating. A grovelling apology says we’re not sure we belong in the room. An expert doesn’t write like that, and neither do we.
If you remember nothing else
Precise, honest, and humanly clear. Say exactly what’s happening, tell the truth about it, and explain it the way a knowledgeable person would to someone they respect.
The skill
Understand it here, write it with the skill.
Our content voice skill is the tool that helps you write in our voice. Understand the voice on this page, then let the skill draft and check the copy, for any product or marketing job.
xe-content-voice
So anyone at Xe, in any team, can write something a customer reads and thinks: these people know exactly what they’re doing with my money.
- 1
Download the skill
Grab the zip above and unzip it.
- 2
Add it to Claude
Drop the folder into your Claude skills, or upload it to your project.
- 3
Write anything
Ask Claude for the copy. It writes in the voice and runs the checklist.
Audiences
One voice, four ears.
The voice never changes; what each audience needs from a sentence does. Writing for everyone? Write for the most stressed person in the room.
Business
Finance teams
They read quickly. Give them exact numbers, exact timings, the mechanism. Not adjectives.
“Will this hold up to audit and stop the FX leakage?”
Business owners
Lead with the outcome, and be ready with the detail.
“Is this making or saving me money, or making my life easier?”
Consumer
High-value senders
Precision is the reassurance they're looking for: an exact status, exact times, clear next steps.
“Will this land correctly, with this provider?”
Cross-border lives
Keep it short, keep it moving. Never make them read a paragraph to find a button.
“Is this the easiest way to move money where I live?”
Voice
Five principles, one expert.
Each principle is a pair: how we sound, and the trap right next to it. Confidence slides into boasting; directness into hype.
| Voice | Write like this | Not like this |
|---|---|---|
| Directnot hype-driven | “Send USD to EUR in minutes. The rate you see is the rate you get.” | “A game-changing way to move your money!” |
| Confidentnot apologetic | “A tech error delayed your transfer. We're sorry, and we've fixed it. It'll reach them by Thursday.” | “We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused.” |
| Specificnot vague | “1 GBP = 1.2748 USD, locked for 30 seconds.” | “There was an issue. Please contact support.” |
| Warmnot clinical | “Your money is on track to reach your solicitor's account today. We know what's riding on it, so we'll confirm the moment it lands.” | “The transaction has been executed.” |
| Self-assurednot boastful | “98% arrive on or before the time we quote.” | “The world’s best money service!” |
Tone
Voice is constant, tone moves.
The same person speaks differently at a wedding and in a meeting with their boss, without becoming someone else. What flexes is the mix of warmth and precision.
Good news
Be brief. Let the news be the star.
“Delivered. Your transfer of 8,400 EUR arrived in Amaia's account at 09:14 CET.”
Waiting moments
Where anxiety peaks. Say where the money is and when they'll hear next.
“Your transfer is with your recipient's bank. This step usually takes 1–2 business days. We'll email you the moment it clears.”
Bad news, not our fault
Lead with the fact, name the cause, give the fix.
“Your recipient's bank returned your transfer. The account number didn't match the name. Check the details and we'll resend.”
Bad news, our fault
Say it plainly. Apologise once. Fix it visibly.
“We made an error and your transfer will arrive Friday, not Thursday. We're sorry. We've corrected it and refunded your fee.”
Compliance holds
Never apologise for a check that protects people's money.
“Your transfer is being checked by our compliance team. We have to check transfers by law. It's one of the ways we keep your money safe.”
Fraud and safety
Calm, unmissable, instructive. Urgency without panic.
“We've paused this transfer. The account has been reported in connection with scams. We'll never rush you to send money, and real banks won't either.”
The same fact, four ways
| Finance team | “GBP → EUR booked before 14:30 BST settles same-day. Full confirmation in your account.” |
| Business owner | “Book before 2:30pm and your suppliers are paid today.” |
| High-value sender | “Your money reaches your solicitor today. We'll confirm the moment it lands.” |
| Cross-border life | “Sent before 2:30pm arrives today.” |
The lines we never cross
- Never use fear to sell. Urgency is real or not at all.
- Never joke about money in motion: a live transfer, a hold, an error.
- Never perform emotion. Understatement is the expert's register.
- Never punch down. Not at banks, not at people new to FX.
Writing principles
The rules that make it real.
The working rules that turn the voice into sentences.
- 01Customer's question first
- What happened, what it means, what's next. From line one.
- 02Clarity over style
- Short words, short sentences, one idea each.
- 03Active voice
- “We've fixed it,” not “the issue has been resolved.”
- 04Translate, don't jargon
- Plain language first. The term after, only for finance teams.
- 05Explain why
- Every request carries its reason, especially compliance.
- 06Sorry once, then act
- Apologise for our faults. Explain what isn't.
- 07Numbers are the voice too
- Exact, honest, never decorative.
- 08Write it, then cut a third
- First drafts explain. Final drafts land.
- 09Read it aloud
- If you wouldn't say it, don't write it.
- 10AI is the intern
- You're the expert. Nothing ships you wouldn't have written.
Mechanics
The details that build trust.
For a money brand, a misformatted amount or an ambiguous date is a trust incident.
Amounts
Amount, then ISO code
8,400 USD
Currency pairs
Send currency first
GBP → EUR
Rates
4 decimals, with direction
1 GBP = 1.2748 USD
Dates
Spell the month
Thursday 7 August
Times
Always a time zone
by 18:00 BST
Sentence case everywhere
Headlines, buttons, subjects, notifications: “Send money to 130 currencies”, not “Send Money To 130 Currencies”. It reads faster, translates better, and doesn’t shout.
The brand name is Xe
Always Xe, never XE or xe (except in xe.com). Exclamation marks almost never.
Word list
Write what customers say.
We're the experts so customers don't have to be. But we never invent softer words for things that already have real names.
| Instead of | Say |
|---|---|
| Transaction / trade | Transfer |
| Funds | Money |
| Beneficiary | Recipient |
| Initiated / executed | Sent / started |
| Verification | ID check / account review |
| Under review | Being checked, with the reason and what's next |
| Fraud team | Account review team |
| Recall request | Asking the bank to return your transfer |
| Sir / Ma'am | The customer's first name |
| Utilize / obtain / assist | Use / get / help |
Words we never use about ourselves
If a claim matters, make it specific and show proof. If it can’t be either, it’s decoration, not a claim.
Checklist
Before you send it.
Ten questions for any piece of copy, whoever wrote it.
- Does your first line carry the news?
- Is the voice direct, confident, specific, warm, self-assured?
- Have you replaced every “soon” or “issue” with a fact?
- One apology maximum, and only if it's our fault?
- Are numbers exact and formatted: codes, time zones, spelled months?
- Is jargon translated?
- Have you read it aloud? Would you say this across your desk?
- Cut a third?
- Will the customer know what happens next, and when?
- Screenshot test: happy for this on social, out of context, forever?