Over the past decade, there has been a huge shift of consumer preference to utilize mobile devices. This shift has impacted every industry, especially banking and financial services. In 2015, mobile banking became the number one way to bank, surpassing branches and online banking (BBA). With this rise in mobile banking—combined with the closing of traditional banks due to the pandemic—the FinTech industry has boomed. Financial services have never been more accessible to the everyday consumer, from asset management to digital banking.
The combination of financial services and technology has proved that digital innovation is the key to not only reaching a greater population of consumers, but also providing a more personalized financial experience with a larger range of capabilities. Here at Catalyst UX, we’ve outlined the ways this emphasis on user experience has shaped and will continue to shape the FinTech industry.
Access to new diverse financial services
FinTech, and the easy-to-navigate UX it provides, has opened the door for those not familiar with many complex financial services to begin building their portfolio, whether it be cryptocurrency or stock trading. This increased accessibility has helped promote financial literacy for millions of consumers.
An example of this we’ve seen is DriveWealth, an asset management platform that provides consumers with a simple, straightforward investing user experience. For DriveWealth users, investing can be as easy as rounding up a Starbucks purchase from $5.20 to $6.00 and investing the extra 80 cents into SBUX stock.
Companies such as DriveWealth allow anyone to begin building their portfolio and increasing their wealth. Since wealth management has a history of high barriers to entry, seamless UX is critical to the success of these platforms. It allows complex information to be delivered to the user in the simplest way.
Personalized banking experience and Big Data
As the FinTech industry continues to grow, the focus on UX has prompted a much more personalized banking experience for consumers. This user-directed push, combined with the huge increase of data collection, has given users more personalized experiences through customized data insight. Informed by Big Data, financial institutions can provide tailored alerts and recommendations to users about things like spending habits and investment suggestions. Not only is this creating a more financially literate consumer, but it also has prompted users to be more aware and attentive of financial habits. Through Big Data, FinTech UX is creating solutions that directly address consumer needs, needs they might not even be aware of.
Truebill, a FinTech asset management company, optimizes its usage of Big Data by tracking user bills, anticipating user paydays, and alerting users regarding their spending habits. All of these functions, led by data collection, allow for a more personalized experience for the user and lead to an intimate connection with the financial institution.
Transitioning to a largely online format for financial services can be intimidating for new users, so by incorporating a hyper-personalization experience, FinTech firms can help users overcome this barrier of absent human interaction. Creating solutions that are based in UX, FinTechs can achieve that emotional connection with their customer and continuously prove they understand their users and their needs while still providing modern, functional financial solutions.
Emphasizing mobile devices in FinTech
Mobile devices have become an integral way for accessing the internet and connecting with others. And as the number of mobile devices has increased, the number of functions accessible through these mobile devices has increased as well. With the rise of FinTech, users can check bank statements, manage their assets, and open new accounts all from their mobile screens.
Implementing great UX is what differentiates FinTech companies for users. A highly accessible, easy-to-use, integrated user experience not only leaves the user with a positive brand impression, but also increases user retention rate. Reinforcing this concept of great UX when delivering mobile financial service solutions, FinTech companies can ensure their solutions will reach the biggest consumer base.
Balancing UX with security and fraud prevention
Another large concern of users when moving to an online financial solution is security and fraud prevention. Finding the balance between comprehensive security checks and a seamless onboarding process can be difficult. This is where exceptional UX can be best utilized. FinTechs have begun transitioning from focusing on “what a person knows” (i.e., passwords, PINs, or dates) to “what a person is” (i.e., fingerprint ID, or facial recognition). Through this shift and the use of machine learning, FinTech companies can provide consumers with a solution that securely validates user identity and facilitates instantaneous financial solutions.
An example of this focus on security and fraud prevention is Forter, a FinTech company that specializes in e-commerce fraud prevention and protects users from credit card fraud, account takeover, identity theft, and more. By providing a solution that detects fraudulent activity in real time, Forter places the security needs of its consumers first.
FinTechs can continue to alleviate users’ security concerns by further implementing UX into their financial solutions. Through increasingly sophisticated authentication solutions and incorporation of customer-centric and innovative approaches, FinTech can guarantee an excellent UX and achieve higher, more long-term solution engagements.
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