What Makes a Truly Great Digital Financial Product?

It Starts With User Experience

All too often, financial services focus on the functions over the format. While it's true that you need to address your clients' needs, how you do so is far more important. The User Experience (UX) is paramount. This goes beyond the interface; it includes how your customers feel about using your app. You need to design an experience that satisfies your customers' needs, wants, and leaves them wanting more.

When you prioritize UX in your design methodology, your final product is much more enjoyable to use. Customers will be more likely to use your product and recommend it to others. Best of all, your business will benefit. A top-quality financial app can reduce your staff's workload, generate revenue through creative means, and attract new customers.

What Do Your Clients Need to Do?

User experience should facilitate the most common actions your clients take. You wouldn't bury a balance check under several layers of menus and taps. That's something that nearly every customer is going to do every time they open your app. So you should prioritize the most commonly used functions. However, that doesn't mean that less common tasks should be relegated to obscurity. All needs should be accessible.

Once you have your top-priority items in place, you need to think about how you present them to your customers. A simple text description lacks personality and engagement. Icons can be helpful, but be wary of potentially ambiguous visuals. Even the colors you choose can have a significant impact on your clients' perception of what to do. When you've properly identified your clients' most pressing needs and you've made them the center of the experience, you're ready to move on.

What Problems Do Your Clients Have?

Even with the best interface and UX design, your clients are going to run into problems. Some of these will be the natural result of business with you, but others will be related to your financial technology. Preemptively considering what problems customers are likely to have will help you design counter measures to resolve their pain points and make their experience even better.

For example, suppose a client loses their debit card and needs a replacement. The traditional online banking approach was to have a link with text like “Lost your debit card?” Modern UX, however, takes another approach. Instead of trying to itemize all of the potential problems your clients could have, let them tell you. Use speech-to-text to have your clients tell you what their issues are and provide responses accordingly.

Staying One Step Ahead

The best experience is one where a problem is solved before a customer even knows there was a problem. For example, if your mobile app uses predictive analytics to identify suspicious logins, or notes sudden frequent use of the user's password from new devices, you could automatically change their password for them and deliver it through SMS or a phone call. These kinds of interactions foster trust and demonstrate commitment to customer service.

Those are the kinds of actions that are only possible through digital mediums. Your goal needs to be to bring the latest technology to your clients through your digital product. Don't just make it a port of your existing online banking. Go one step further so you can stay one step ahead.

Users Interact Differently

A great product pleases all kinds of users. For that to happen, you'll need to consider the different types of users you have. Older clients are likely to have more investments and want to track their yields, while younger clients might be more interested in cryptocurrencies. When you can leverage your clients' data to provide them with more personalized services, you're sure to generate a more positive experience.

Can your digital product learn from your customer? Can they shape it themselves? The best digital finance apps allow users to mold their own experience to their liking. When the customer has control, the experience is always superior. After all, your client can't blame you for a bad experience that they themselves built. However, to give your clients that control, you need to prioritize two things: Flexibility and predictability.

Provide Flexibility and Predictability

Flexibility lets your customers choose how they want to interact with your product. Give them the option to feature specific products on their homepage or to customize notifications to their liking. Flexibility also extends to the types of products you offer. For example, giving accounts that allow clients to donate to a charity of their choice are extremely effective at increasing engagement with your digital products. The more charity options you can provide the better.

However, flexibility will only be a burden if it's not paired with predictability. Your clients need to know that when they change a configuration, it'll stay that way and act accordingly across other devices. When notifications are activated, they should get them as expected. If a feature doesn't work as you expect it to, you'll be dissuaded from using the digital service in the future.

Engage Users Emotionally

The final key to a great digital financial product is to strike your customers' emotions. Money has a tendency to be a dry topic, one that people begrudgingly deal with. But it can evoke immense emotion. Whether it's through giving accounts or community fundraisers or even just crowdfunding efforts for a fellow employee or family member, giving your clients a way to make a difference with their dollar is very impactful.

You can also develop your apps with an emotional touch at every step. A positive message when someone puts money into savings or a pat on the back when they turn a profit on an investment is a great way to encourage engagement and keep customers satisfied.

A Great Digital Financial Product Boosts Your Bottom Line

When done right, digital financial instruments can not only make your clients happier, but they can boost your business's finances as well. A well-oiled app lightens the load from your staff's shoulders. Your clients may be more likely to make deposits and purchase additional products from you since they actually enjoy banking with you.

If you want the best in digital financial tools, then you need to work with the experts. Contact Cotribute today to learn more about how we can digitize your financial services and products.