It is a good decision to migrate to a CPAN XML parser. If you are sure the reposonse data is as simple as you have shown, then XML::Simple is appropriate.

use warnings;
use strict;
use Data::Dumper;
use XML::Simple;

my $xmlin = <<XML;
<?xml version = "1.0"?>
<response>

<custid>101010101</custid>
    <status>success</status>
<responsecode>11</responsecode>
<kf></kf>
<cn>1111222233334444555</cn>
<neta>7.00</neta>
<prid>X111111111111111</prid>
<ano>22222222</ano>
<trxid>33333333</trxid>
<description>Transfer Completed</description>
</response>
XML

my $xml = XMLin($xmlin);
print Dumper($xml);

if ($xml->{status} eq 'success') {
    print 'yes'
}
else {
    print 'no'
}
__END__

$VAR1 = {
          'kf' => {},
          'cn' => '1111222233334444555',
          'status' => 'success',
          'custid' => '101010101',
          'neta' => '7.00',
          'description' => 'Transfer Completed',
          'trxid' => '33333333',
          'ano' => '22222222',
          'responsecode' => '11',
          'prid' => 'X111111111111111'
        };
yes
[download]

By default, with your data, it returns a reference to a hash.

If your data is more complex than what you've shown, XML::Twig would be a better choice.