This is a collection of the best UX case studies on creating and researching the customer experience in banking and Fintech. All of these articles are extracted from Medium and arranged in consecutive order based on the amount of applause received by the time of publishing this article. This collection offers a wonderful opportunity to get instant inspiration from 25 insightful cases that demonstrate how to design modern digital financial solutions using the power of CX/UX methodology.

Post by Alex Kreger, financial UX Strategist/Founder of UX Design Agency

1. Light Bank App: 10 Steps to Delightful Mobile Banking

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Case study by UXDA — Leading financial UX design architects

UXDA team spent several months designing Light Bank. The end result is based on experience gained by solving financial design challenges daily and driven by their passion to disrupt the financial world in order to make it all about the users and their needs.

We dared to create the simplest, most beautiful and delightful banking UI experience in the world, while maintaining the full-scale digital banking functionality.

The story about Light Bank has become one of the most popular banking customer experience case studies ever made, reaching more than 50 000 views on Medium alone. It has been awarded by globally famous international design awards such as International Design Awards (IDA), London Design Awards, A’Design Award, DNA Paris Design Award, and also nominated for one of the world’s biggest and most prestigious design awards─the iF Design Award 2019 and the Red Dot Award 2019.

2. Shine Bank App: 80% Conversion Onboarding

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Case study by Arnaud Babol

Shine is building a professional bank account for freelancers. So as their typical user can be an 18-years-old biker or 60-years-old man, they have to be both modern and traditional at the same time.

Throughout this article, I will explain how we’ve built our modern and classic onboarding with a 80% conversion rate.

Keep it simple, focus on an action, a screen should be designed to maximize the result, one action, one screen. Do not reinvent the wheel, always remember that “less is more”.

3. ITTI Digital Back-Office: Complete Digital Transformation

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Case study by UXDA — Leading financial UX design architects

The main challenge of ITTI Digital when they started working with UXDA was to disrupt the banking industry by creating a never-before-seen core-banking solution 100% focused on the employees: a solution that would take into account all bank employees’ pain points, needs and daily tasks, thus making their job easier, enjoyable and more meaningful from a banking end-customer perspective.

Most banks reveal they are very afraid of making such a huge and revolutionary shift, changing a structure that has been working for decades, but ITTI Digital is living proof that it’s 100% worth it.

During the project, ITTI Digital learned to make users their main priority, and their perception changed dramatically. It felt like they had finally opened their eyes to what has always been right in front of them─their users.

4. Banking Super App: Hundreds Of Features in One Mobile Solution

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Case study by UXDA — Leading financial UX design architects

The presence of a large number of products and the flow of big data passing through the bank can become a promising basis for building a highly personalized banking ecosystem around a specific user. And, today, there are more and more advanced technological solutions of data processing and personalization through AI in banking accessible on the market.

However, despite the technological opportunities, the key challenge is delivering the super app experience in a clear and user-friendly way.

When considering how to create a banking super app, there’s an important question to answer: how will it work technically? As this kind of financial digital product is complex, a banking super app could rely on 10 digital banking trends.

5. CashMetrics: Finance Management Service

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Case study by Tubik Studio

CashMetrics provides support for retailers, mainly in the fashion segment: it helps to organize their operations and monitor cash flows. It is aimed at simplifying operational processes, with a key focus on tracking profits, shipping costs, and fees.

Mobile and web applications help to effectively manage financial and communication issues and this way design directly supports the business.

When it comes to financing, the first idea that immediately comes to mind is boring tables and complex calculations. So, the primary goal was to step away from dull, unclear, and overwhelming data presentation and make the service eye-pleasing and easy to use.

6. MasterCard: Pre-Paid Card Management

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Case study by Davide Tremolada

MasterCard wants to allow users to manage their cards and solve problems in-app. To do that, they requested a redesign of the card management section, which would provide a clear and simple flow, where users feel secured.

We were able to work closely as a team, prioritizing a supportive approach to ideas and sketching instead of endless debating.

Using research and testing were fundamental steps into understanding the real needs and pain points of the users. More importantly, they gave us the knowledge to solve each step in an effective and smooth way.

7. Fintarget Trading: How to Attract Newbies

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Case study by Purrweb

The BCS team suggested the hypothesis: the company will attract more customers if it proves that investing is easy — even for those who don’t have any experience. To quickly test the hypothesis, the BCS team decided to get started with an MVP.

BCS had a perfect tool for newbies — auto-following. The service was popular among current BCS clients but no one from the outside world knew about it.

The team found a perfect balance between deadlines, complicated topics, and agreements — this was the block-by-block UI/UX design for MVP. As a result, Fintarget released an investment platform within 1.5 months instead of the predicted three.

8. VR / AR Banking: First Mixed Reality Design Concept

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Case study by UXDA — Leading financial UX design architects

True mixed reality potential lies far beyond games; it’s a new digital platform that provides a revolutionary user experience. VR and AR technologies will merge digital content with the real world to create one constant reality.

We could say that the modern digital world as we see it today is only the basic preparation stage for the immersive mixed reality that we will fully experience in a few decades.

The only way to be ready for the revolutionary switch to VR/AR digital reality is to start generating ideas and concepts today. With this case study, UXDA team encourages the industry to view financial products through the lens of the future. As technological advancements are rapidly developing and bringing more and more benefits for the customers, this is a must for any company that strives to become more successful, not only today but also in the future.

9. Bank of Jordan: From 2,8 to 4,7 App Rate in Six Months

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Case study by UXDA — Leading financial UX design architects

It took six months for the Bank of Jordan’s mobile banking app to go from a 2.8 to 4.7 star rating on Google Play. How? By teaming up with UXDA to create a comprehensive UX transformation. This changed the app dramatically, making banking more accessible and convenient than ever before for millions of customers in the Middle East.

In a step-by-step UX case study, we guide you through this unique digital transformation that completely changed the way so many people view their banking.

In the last couple of years, there’s been a “spring” of rapid banking digitalization in the Middle Eastern regions. Many huge and influential market players have launched new mobile banking apps for their retail customers. One such success story comes from a well-known and respected Middle Eastern bank─the Bank of Jordan.

10. Islamic Bank in Qatar: Creating Omni-Channel Experience

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Case study by Atishay Goyal

A team of 8 developers, 1 Business Analyst, and 1 UX designer was setup onsite in Qatar to execute the revamp of CB’s digital presence and an Omni-Channel experience to its customers. This included retail, personal and corporate banking over web, mobile, ATM, call centers, and marketing channels.

We were not too focused on the competitor analysis as CB was one of the best apps in Qatar / Islamic Banking. Our major aim was to innovate and build something which ensures CB maintains the legacy.

In close collaboration with the marketing team, the design team came up with 7 factors (short-term and long-term) that would define the success of the new experience which CB offered. Initially was considered the HEART framework from Google and then cut short the parameters so that they can be measurable for an MVP.

11. Akuna: Personal Budgeting Reimagined

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Case study by Denislav Jeliazkov

On average, millennials who carry debt report owing to a total of $27,900 (excluding mortgages), slightly less than baby boomers and about $8,000 less than the average amount Gen Xers owe. 34% of Americans don’t know how much of their monthly income goes toward paying down their personal debt.

I led efforts to evolve the service and address customer pain‐points related to the spending and planning experiences.

The team was focused on features related to solving some of the major desired outcomes found in the initial research. The app should be simple and easy to understand. Also, encouraging them to build financial habits.

12. Bitex: Chinese Stock Analysis App

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Case study by Tubik Studio

The task was set to make a complete redesign of a live application Bitex oriented initially to the Chinese market. The application is an aggregator that collects data from world exchanges, processes it, builds the necessary charts and diagrams and displays this information in a user-friendly and digestible way. The main goal of Bitex is to help the trader decide on investments.

The fact is that many users from Asian countries believe that the more information is shown on the page, the better.

An interesting feature was discovered in the subconscious perception of color-coding. Here’s the simplest example: in Western resources about finance, the rise in the share price is indicated in green and the drop in red. Meanwhile, in Asian countries, everything is the opposite. Since investors planned to enter the Western market, we were forced to add a switch “color growth price” to solve this problem.

13. Monese: Smart Transactions and Spending Breakdowns

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Case study by Monese

For the spending management features to be understandable, Monese needed to get the clearest data out of the raw, original transaction data. Using location databases and online resources, Monese was able to match the name of the merchant, the address and a lot of other details. In addition, Monese built a merchant service in-house, to show the right logo for most merchants and treat chains and stand-alone businesses differently. The result was a drastically improved look and feel, with richer, smarter insights.

Since we are not the first company to offer spending features, we didn’t want to just do what others are doing. We wanted to create the best solution, one that will fix the pain points of other services.

Monese took a lot of inspiration from music charts. Not just because “top lists” are amazing but also because they are built to keep you engaged and excited. A music chart, just like the Monese merchant chart, is always updating and can point out changes and trends.

14. iGTB: Corporate Banking With 5,000+ Screens

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Case study by UXDA — Leading financial UX design architects

In the world of banking, there are a lot of complex digital solutions. Among them are some truly exceptional ones, such as Contextual Banking Experience (CBX), a corporate banking product by iGTB (Intellect Global Transaction Banking), part of Intellect Design Arena. It consists of 5,000+ screens and is continuously growing. An outstanding effort was needed to integrate Design Thinking principles and UX design approach into such a huge banking solution development.

Working with Intellect Design Arena has been a remarkable experience for UXDA in many ways. It’s a unique opportunity to get a chance to work closely together with one of the world’s leading banking software vendors.

If we use the analogy with spaceships, mankind dreams about spaceships that are easily able to travel billions of miles through our solar system. Unfortunately, existing spaceships weren’t constructed for multiple takeovers and landings on other planets until the “SpaceX” program appeared, with an ambitious mission to land on Mars. iGTB has a similar mission in corporate banking to ensure huge, corporate, multi-account budget management with ease. Hence, the innovative iGTB solution was built.

15. bKash: Redesign of the First Mobile Banking in Bangladesh

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Case study by pixorus studio

bKash is the very first mobile banking service provider in Bangladesh. People who have a mobile and a bKash account can utilize all of the facilities provided by bKash. This app is a simple, easy-to-use and highly secure mobile money app for sending cash quickly to people, recharging mobile balance, paying at your favorite stores and shops, making utility and other bill payments from home, and so much more.

Understanding the audience is the main thing to know, that is needed to develop something that works for users.

The challenge was to find out the proper number of active app user, interviewing them to find out more problems, make a solution, exploring new ideas/features and finally design something that really solves user’s problems.

16. budgit: Made with Vulnerable Customers in Mind

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Case study by Jaymie Gill

budgit is a money management app that empowers and encourages vulnerable customers to control, maintain, and track their spending. Customers can get control of their money with a budget, gain awareness of their spending habits with insights, and access tools that assist them with financial management.

This project was created as my submission for D&AD’s New Blood Awards 2020 ‘Barclays UI/UX/IxD Digital Service Design’ brief.

Offering adaptive & accommodating digital banking tools and services, budgit supports vulnerable customers with everyday banking, helping them manage their money better, and in doing so, improve their mental & financial health.

17. Monzo: Designing a Better Borrowing Experience

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Case study by Juliana Martinhago

There are cemented mental models around credit. Especially when it comes to loans. Some people are averse to the idea completely. This is often because of previous bad experiences of their own, or relatives. It doesn’t matter how well you build your product, some people just don’t want to use it.

We want to ensure that if anything goes wrong, we’ve got our customer’s backs. Human customer service is one of Monzo’s key attributes and it’s not different with Lending.

Designers will always strive for straight-forwardness, speed and simplicity. However, in Lending, you might want to reconsider. Monzo’s loans flow has always been incredibly smooth, but during some of user testing sessions, many people felt it might be “too easy”, and that can be scary. You might not want to offer people a loan in a couple of taps, but you still can keep it simple, of course.

18. Accountable: a Better Solution to PFM

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Case study by Timothy Ogundipe

Accountable was designed to solve the problems around tracking of finances, access to financial records, spending analysis, budgeting and financial education.

Millennials want services that are immediate, reliable and offer a wide range of convenience.

We make use of money in our day to day activities. We spend money on what we want and what we need. Subscriptions and recurring expenses are ever-increasing due to our wants and needs. They begin to accumulate and get difficult to manage.

19. InstaDApp: Blockchain Decentralized Application Redesign

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Case study by ULTIM STUDIO

InstaDApp is a decentralized application that allows individuals to track their distributed blockchain assets over a range of products and move them around based on real-time market data.

InstaDApp is a fairly new product and even though the overall product brings value to users, we‘ve spotted some UX issues that are undermining the user experience for power users.

If you are not familiar with what decentralized applications (dApps) are, dApps exist and run on a blockchain network in a public, open-source, decentralized environment and are free from control and interference from any single authority, unlike standard apps such as Airbnb or Uber that run on a system which is owned and operated by an organization giving it full authority over the app and its database.

20. Klarna: How to Improve Customer Retention

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Case study by Peter Ramsey

Klarna is one of the biggest “buy now, pay later” services in the world, and you’ll probably have seen their logo in a few familiar places, like ASOS, Topshop, and Wayfair. The idea is that you can buy something from one of their participating retailers, receive the item, and pay for it through Klarna later on.

Nothing is certain, except death, taxes, and that customers will enter their personal details incorrectly on your form.

Well, let’s explore the UX mistakes that Klarna is making, and ultimately how they could improve their product fairly easily.

21. Loan Management System Redesign

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Case study by Julia Bondarenko

The old Loan system had an outdated UI and couldn’t support new business flows, which have developed over years in the industry. It was a stand-alone system, not included into the whole core banking system, which led to inconsistencies in the UI and data architecture.

The UI design was made to be easy for an eye, because users would typically work with the Core Banking system for majority of their work day.

The team updated the UI according to the new standards, also enhancing UX by intuitive flows and appropriate system feedback. New business flows were added to the system. The loan system was integrated into the complex architecture of the whole core banking system, accessible from multiple browsers.

22. Pre-trade Analysis Application

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Case study by Angel Bartolli

The application enables its users to test transactions and analyze the potential portfolio impact before applying the action. One should be able to experiment with the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of a financial trade across twelve funds to achieve the best and optimal transaction structure.

We analyzed the day-to-day job of 23 people, aged 28–51, for four weeks, during their business renewal period.

By using a concrete example, the case study demonstrates how well-designed financial user experience can reduce process complexity and cost, improve market responsiveness, and even reduce stress, which emanates from risk assessment and everyday decision-making.

23. Jenius Redesign: Solution Toward A Cashless Society

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Case study by Floater

With Jenius, you’ll have full control of how you want to transact and manage your finance with your smartphone in a safe, easy, and smart way, just from the tip of your finger toe.

According to The Jakarta Post, the top five e-wallets based on monthly active users is GoPay, OVO, Dana, LinkAja, and Jenius. With the demographic users ranging from 20 to 35 years old.

Sometimes, with the redesign, there are remained new problems that may occur according to users. An in-depth interview may gather insights provided by users so that we can make our design better.

24. Erste Bank: Simplify Banking for 300k Seniors

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Case study by Madesense Digital

Erste Bank wanted to offer to people in their senior years smartphones equipped with our senior launcher and the new simplified banking app which is the subject of this case study.

Our screen design changed several times during testing, quite radically. The size of the font needed to almost double, seniors were not able to see the bottom navigation panel and they did not understand the chart on the main screen.

It works something like a visit to the doctor. We asked a lot of questions to better understand the needs of the business and its users. We dig deep for the reasons Erste Bank would want to create an application in the first place and how its functionalities should look to provide real value for older people.

25. Swedbank: Mobile App UX Improvement

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Case study by Edijs Bogomolovs

Design is always human-centric first. If a modern website design doesn’t help a visitor find what they’re looking for, then even the hottest fonts won’t stop a potential customer from leaving. Great design happens when designers create products with their users in mind. We teach our students that in design, empathy comes first.

When I asked students to find UX problems that annoyed them daily, most of them mentioned Swedbank’s app.

We’re publishing this as a case study because we want to encourage critical design thinking, especially in UX design. Critical thinking shapes what we know and how we got there. Conscious practice helps us improve our processes and do things better. More efficiently.