Cashwise is a neo-banking mobile application with the goal of providing day-to-day payments and remittance services through its wallet system for businesses, Nigerians, and Africans in the diaspora. The Cashwise app was conceptualized by Cashwise Inc- a registered business in the United States of America. The Cashwise application will serve as a breath of relief to the Nigerian and African remittance market by facilitating seamless movement of funds from the diaspora to its corridors and vice versa.
My Role
Product Designer
Tools
Figma, Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator
Timeline
8 Weeks
Product Challenge
The challenge is to make available a solutions to daily payment needs and international funds movement by individuals and businesses. Some of the major challenges are;
To provide convenient and accessible mobile wallet and payment solutions for the underbanked and unbanked population in Nigeria and across Africa.
To integrate all the banking needs of individuals into one App for ease of use.
To provide an easy and convenient way to make mobile payments to and from multiple locations worldwide.
To provide an easy and convenient way to make remittance to Africa from Africans in Diaspora.
Project Background
International money remittance and transfers within Africa remains a major challenge as traditional banks struggle to meet the growing need of Africans in diaspora amid strict policies. Nigerians need a reliable solution for ease of money transfers to their loved ones from their country of residence to (and within) their country of origin. These people represent the primary target audience for Cashwise. This product is to provide affordable and convenient mobile banking solutions for Africans at home and in the Diaspora.
The product offers a wallet system solution which will enable ease of funding and transfers from different countries. Money transfer will be made seamless within countries where Cashwise is actively doing business.
Design Process
01 Research
Research Plan
Research enables me to dig deep into my understanding of users - not only their immediate frustration, but also their hopes, fears, abilities, limitations, reasoning and goals. It lays essentials foundation for creating solutions in later stages.
To ensure the research stays on track and better guide the mobile aoo design, it is important to create a research plan before diving into the research phase. I listed research goals, research questions, assumptions and methodologies, participants and timeline below.
Research Goals
Understand the market of Fintech related companies
Identify the target audience of Cashwise
Lear n about how the main competitiors of Cashwise are catering to customer's needs, as well as their strengths and weakness
Uncover people's experience of the competitors
Assumptions
All users must have an internet-enabled smartphone
All users on Cashwise must have a registered mobile phone number in their country of residence
All users on Cashwise must have an address in the country of their residence
Users (residents) in Nigeria must have a government issued means of identification such as National ID, Permanent Voter’s Card (PVC), Nigerian passport, Bank Verification Number (BVN) or driver’s license. Primary means of identification is BVN.
All users (residents) in the diaspora (UK/USA/CA) must have a government issued means of identification in the respective region.
All users (residents) in the diaspora (UK/USA/CA) have at least one (1) bank account in their country of residence. This
Constraints
Low internet accessibility/downtime will inhibit the usage/performance of the solution
Users in the USA must have Zelle linked to their bank account for the purpose of funding from their own bank account and also withdrawing/sending USD to their own US bank account or a third party beneficiary.
Users in Canada must have Interac linked to their bank account in order to enable them to fund from their own bank account or withdraw/send CAD to a Canadian bank account
To send GBP to a UK bank account via TrueLayer, the user must input the recipient’s bank account number and sort code which will auto-lookup the account name.
Users (residents) in Nigeria who wish to verify themselves using their National ID (vNIN) must generate the vNIN from their NIMC mobile app or dialing the USSD *346*3*NIN*Enterprise code#
The vNIN is only valid for 72 hours for verification purpose and must not be stored
Methodologies
Secondary Research (Market Research, Competitive Analysis)
Primary Research (User Interview)
Secondary Research
Market Research
It is important to get a big picture of the market by starting with market research - to get a sense of what we know and don't know yet, who the audience are, as well as what the recent trends or news are. The insights gathered from market research will help me frame provisional personas and ask meaningful questions in primary research.
Overall: the Nigerian fintech industry has remained a greatly influential, promising and biggest fintech app space in the world. Over the years, the fintech industry has remained a massive, greatly influential global consumer market, with 200 Fintech companies
Generally, there are 3 types of fintech companies for users in Nigeria. The first type is an actual banking app where people can save and transfer money, more like “banking industry gone technology”, the second type is the Microfinance banking system where the fintech company basic objective is to provide suite and comfortable loan, mortgage and what not to it’s user, while the third one is the for businesses and individuals to make their international remittance process seamless, this entail access to USD accounts and virtual cards to make international payment on various platforms around the world.
Demographics
Overall: A very high population of youths (Tech bros and Sis) in Nigeria would rather get access to their money right from their comfort zone than having to go to banks to make complains and what not, especially in given the fact that they can easily receive their wage right into their wallet and not having to go through the hustle of opening a Paypal account. Therefore they are likely to be the users of fintech products.
Competitive Research
It is equally important to research enterprises that pioneer in the fintech industry, as their solutions to similar problems will help me gather insights about their strengths and weaknesses. These insights also help me identify any gaps in features that Cashwise might address. I analyzed 3 direct competitors, who are trying to solve the same problem as cashwise.
PayDay
Strength
Use of USD Virtual Cards
Easy navigation
Access to local bank account
Access to GBP account
Weakness
Inoperative of Functionalities
Easy security procedure
Single method of Funds remittance
No provision for physical card
Chipper
Strength
Use of USD Virtual Cards
Easy navigation
Access to local bank account
Weakness
Boring UI
Difficulty navigating
Single method of Funds remittance
No provision for physical cards
Kyshi
Strength
Fast Verification Process
Great UI
Access to GBP Account
Access to local bank account
Weakness
Boring UI
Difficulty navigating
In-app ads
No provision for physical cards
Long verification process
Provisional Persona
With the data gathered from market research, I started to generate provisional personas using the statistical knowledge I gained to represent a certain type of user that is potential audience of Bhuku. These personas will help me screen appropriate people to interview.
Business Owner
Goals
Shop and make payment in USD
Receive wages in other currency
Pains
Difficult to navigate through the app
Unavailability of physical cards
Student
Goals
Credit Score System
International Remittance
Easy access to banking solutions
Easy access to banking solutions
Pains
Long verification processp
Too many clickable options
Difficult to navigate
User in Diaspora
Goals
Bill Payments
Card Services
Access to Budgeting
Access to Overdrafts and loans
Pains
Unrelated icons
Unavailability of physical cards
FX transactions settlement turn-around time
Primary Research
User Interview
Building on a general understanding of the market and the audience, I continued to dive deeper and build a real connection with our users, to gain direct insights on them by primary research.I created an Interview Guide to facilitate the user interview process, with 10 open-ended questions listed to invite the participants to share their experiences and stories.In total, 5 participants (3 males and 2 females) were interviewed about their reading and book organizing experience (if there is any) in the past.
Empathy Map
To synthesize the qualitative data gathered from user interview, I created an empathy map to identify patterns across users, uncover insights, and generate needs.
02 Synthesis
Research has shown that it is easier to empathize with a known individual than a group of people. therefore I decide to craft a persona for my target users.
Product Scope
The first version of the solution will feature its wallet system with payment capabilities to send and receive funds locally and internationally. The solution will be launched for the Nigerian market (locally) and users in a diaspora corridor (United States of America or Canada)
The following functionalities are what will be covered under the MVP of this product.
User onboarding for Nigerians locally: Ability for legal residents within Nigeria to register with a valid email, telephone number and password..
User onboarding for users in a diaspora corridor (UK/USA/Canada): Ability for legal residents in UK/USA/Canada to register with a valid email, mobile number and password..
Verification of newly registered users: Legal ramifications and requirements to verify users in selected jurisdictions with means of ID. Primary means of ID for Nigerian users is Bank Verification Number (BVN) and those in diaspora is government issued ID
User login: Ability for registered users to gain access to the app using correct email and password or biometric (fingerprint and/or face ID)
NGN Cashwise wallet: Ability for users to fund, make payments and transfers in Naira to Cashwise user wallets and other bank accounts.
Attach multiple virtual account numbers to NGN wallet: Ability to receive Naira transfers from Nigerian bank accounts using multiple variations of account numbers in different banks. Users in diaspora will have only one NUBAN attached to NGN wallet to receive Naira transfers.
GBP/USD/CAD Cashwise wallet: Ability to make GBP/USD/CAD transfers to other users on Cashwise
Send and receive money to bank accounts locally: Ability for users in Nigeria/UK/USA/CA to make transfers in their local currency to third party bank accounts in their region, Cashwise Tags and phone contacts, as well as receive money.
Send and receive money internationally (outbound and inbound Nigeria): Make transfers in GBP/USD/CAD/NGN to other users on Cashwise within and outside Nigeria
Card services: Create virtual (USD) cards, physical (Naira) cards and disposable virtual (USD) cards for local and international payments.
Local bill payments (airtime, data, electricity, cableTV): Pay Nigerian bills for yourself and loved ones
Notifications: Get real-time notifications of activities within your app
User Persona
Since I have gathered a bunch of knowledge of the audience, as well as their goals and needs, I use the user persona to represent key audience segments. It helps me focus on tackling the most important problems – to address the major needs of the most important user groups. It is both fictional and realistic.
Small Business Owner Persona
AGE
36
Nature of Work
Retailer
Gender
Female
Experience & Training
3yrs in business
Environment
Work from home
Deborah
GOALS AND MOTIVATIONS
Deborah wants to be able to collect repayment from multiple bank accounts and see all her revenue in one place. She also wants to be able to receive payment from overseas and expand her business into the international market.
IT skill level
Basic, spends a lot of time on social media, able to navigate and use websites and mobile apps.
IT equipment
Laptop computer, mobile device.
Key tasks
Onboard on app
Register existing bank account
Pay bills
Pay vendors
Receive money from customers
Request a virtual Card
Attitude towards technology
Great – it’s easy to use and saves me time
I like it but it often falls short
I like that I can do business with people anywhere they are in the world.
David wants to be able to perform all his banking transactions from one place without interacting with multiple banks. He also wants to be able to buy Airtime, pay bills and receive money from friends and family all over the world and send money easily without using his bank account.
IT skill level
Intermediate, spends a lot of time on social media, able to navigate and use websites and mobile apps.
IT equipment
Laptop computer, mobile device.
Key tasks
Onboard on app
Register existing bank account
Pay bills
Buy airtime
Transfer
Receive account
Attitude towards technology
Great – it’s easy to use and saves me time
It allows me to connect with friends and family no matter where they are.
Kadijat wants to be able to easily send money home to her family in Nigeria. She wants safe, reliable cross border transfers, and advantageous transfer fees and rates to get the best value for her money. She also wants to be able to buy Airtime, and pay bills for her family back home.
IT skill level
basic, spends a lot of time on social media, able to navigate and use websites and mobile apps.
IT equipment
Laptop computer, tablet, mobile device.
Key tasks
Onboard on app
Register her bank account, both back home and in the county of residence.
To assist the users to navigate through the application better and identify the main flow of users when they are completing a task, I created a task flows centring on the key features of Cashwise. In this way, I was able to decide what I am designing, and think through the necessary steps and examine the user experience in details. Below is the flow for each task.
User Flow
Building on the task flow, I mapped user flows whose scenarios correspond to the established tasks. This process helps me walk in an individual user's shoes, and think through different scenarios that this user might encounter. Below is the user flow for Cashwise when she wants to mark a book as "Want to Read". A complete user flow can be viewed
Low-fi Sketches
After establishing the pain point, with a to-do list for designing the key screens identified in the task flow and user flow. I sketched multiple low-fidelity screens options to test and see major functionalities to optimize the user experience. I can capture my ideas with pen and paper quickly by sketching. It also enables me to examine my ideas before putting everything in the daunting process of digitizing. After a few rounds of iterations I came to a good place with the solutions.
04 Prototype
Wireframe
Once I had a visual direction of the layout, I started to add more details and precisions to the sketches by turning them into hi-fidelity wireframes. Creating mid-fidelity wireframes helps me have an already laid out view for the prototype, I tried to incorporate common design patterns that have been tested on our competitors' product, or included elements that directly address users' goals, needs, frustrations, and motivations.
Hi-Fidelity Wireframes and Prototype
In the case of this project i had to take the wire frame for a user review of some colleagues in the product design business to get feedbacks before moving to the hi-fidelity wireframe, which i got some really in-sighting feedbacks which then led to a lot of reiteration. After a long review of the wireframe i then came to perfect conclusion which meets my clients expectations and requirements and also the user experience i was hoping to achieve.
Animated Prototype
Conclusion & Final Thought
After 8 weeks of hard work, I'm glad to finally put a full stop to the project. It's been an amazing journey working on this product design job and seeing how it grew from a simple concept to a refined and polished product. As a creative, it's been especially exciting to explore my own creative ideas and work with an incredible team who shared similar interests and points of view.
I had to cut corners at times, try different approaches to find the right answer, and even figure out what was wrong with certain details that didn't look right. From the creative brief to the final version of the design, this job has been a great learning experience.
The outcome is something that I'm very proud of, and I'm looking forward to making more improvements as the project progresses. I'm confident that with the right feedback and some additional testing and optimization, this product is sure to make an impact.
It was definitely a challenging project, but nonetheless it was incredibly rewarding to see the product get crafted with such care and precision.
