Digital Bank Account
FlexxPay in partnership with local UAE Bank
Through our collaboration with a local bank in the UAE, we have designed a digital bank account opening process for users who wished to open a bank account through the FlexxPay mobile app. Unbanked users in the UAE now had a way to apply for a digital bank account and benefit from the different services on FlexxPay (salary advances, mobile top-ups, digital vouchers, etc.).
My Role
As Product Manager for this project, I worked with our in-house development and design teams to take this concept from conception to launch. As this was a collaborative project between my company (FlexxPay) and the local bank, I worked directly with their digital lead and engineering teams on the system integration phase and user journey design.
Product
It was essential that the account opening process was simple, intuitive and instant. Once users initiated the journey, they would receive a fully-fledged, bank account (IBAN) at the end of the process. This IBAN would then automatically be linked to the FlexxPay app, therefore allowing the user to access his earned salary immediately in case needed. The user would also receive a physical debit card within the next 48 hours.
Throughout the journey, the user never leaves the FlexxPay app. Instead, he is redirected within the app to the bank screens that have been integrated into FlexxPay and populated with data from the FlexxPay system (name, email, etc.). The least amount of information required by the user to enter, the better.
Having this digital account also provided users with additional service benefits; they could access other features of the FlexxPay app (such as the digital marketplace) and be eligible for other banking products such as micro-loans.
Story
The idea behind this project came during the standard, day-to-day business that was conducted at FlexxPay; when acquiring customers, we frequently encountered users who were unbanked and had no way of receiving their salary advances directly to an account. With this concept in mind, we set out to search for a partner bank that would help us create a digital bank account that can be opened directly from the existing FlexxPay app.
We were able to validate this need by conducting numerous interviews and meetings with business customers and direct users. Once we partnered with the bank, we held multiple product and design workshops to create a simple and intuitive onboarding workflow.
Below is one of the initial process flows designed using Lucid Chart:
And below is a rough sketch of the initial user journeys:
The final results of our joint workshops with the design teams resulted in the following user journey designed using Adobe XD (later replicated and expanded on using Figma):
Once development was completed, we tested the product through a pilot involving 2-3 companies that had a number of unbanked staff. The reaction was positive and the product itself successful in being able to solve a key challenge in the financial inclusion space: providing unbanked employees with an easy way (with almost no barriers to entry) to open a bank account and benefit from the various financial facilities offered.
Key Takeaways
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How to work closely with external teams to bring a product from concept to launch.
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Gained deeper knowledge on the market that we serve by understanding the unbanked segment, their needs, challenges and regulations.
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How to improve my communication skills by having nearly daily interactions with the bank's team members either through phone, emails, chat or in-person meetings.
