At the preparatory stage of the project for My Fibank’s modernization and improvement,
our role was to consult the bank on the
new interface and UX design.
Philip,
who has a long-term experience in this field, headed the consultation team formed by specialists of Whiz. We studied the existing online banking service in depth. At the work meetings with the bank’s team, we asked the right questions and received valuable answers.
The research, which is always essential for providing complete and reliable consultation,
focused on two aspects - the target market of the online banking service and its most widely used counterparts in the world plus its competitors in the local market. Using the customer data provided by the bank, we created virtual persons possessing the characteristics of the service’s users. The experiments, which we performed with them, helped us to understand
what people want and expect from the renovated system.
The
analysis of online banking systems formed the major part of our research. We evaluated the online services offered by the largest banks in the world and those operating locally. It was impossible to miss the leading innovators in online payments PayPal and their most successful competitors. The vast research gave us the basis for answering Fibank’s question regarding online banking.
We were inspired and came up with great ideas, which we transformed into a solid concept. The concept’s presentation to the bank was followed by discussions between their team and ours. They were incredibly productive thanks to the good organization and the enthusiasm which had taken over everyone.
We detailed our concept and were ready to do our magic.
What was the core of our concept for modernizing the My Fibank service? We’d say,
the presentation of the financial information and the simplification of the tools for online banking. We made all features of the system easy to reach with the click of a button. For achieving this, our team created a homepage which provides an overview of the user’s finances and has a detailed menu with clearly defined categories. The moment they enter the system, users see a summary of their checking account, deposit and debit and credit card balances plus details on their five most recent transactions and the bank’s current exchange rates. For getting the full information, they simply have to click on the respective category. The menu provides quick access to all sections and features of the system. We created special icons for them and organized them into categories. How convenient!
Our motto was “Put everything in one place, just one click away”. Following this fundamental principle, we paid special attention to the people who have both personal and business accounts in the bank. Via their user profile, they can choose which ones to view and use for online banking at any time.
Switching between personal and business accounts has never been easier. Having everything in one place is a huge advantage for today’s entrepreneurs who have a busy lifestyle.
Presenting all the information about the customer’s checking accounts, deposits and debit and credit cards wasn’t an easy task. How to make all the details easy to understand? We used one of the most powerful tools in the arsenal of web designers - charts and more specifically, pie charts and bar charts which are the most popular and recognizable. Of course, we relied on the traditional tables too. Everything came together perfectly. For simplifying things even further, we made each design element and the font sufficiently big.
Now making bank transfers is as easy as a kid’s game, literally, thanks to the
innovative Payment Wizard which we introduced. To process involves only 4 quick steps - choosing an account, entering a recipient, determining the transferred amount and provision of additional information. With the touch of the “Confirm” button, the job is done. It is also possible to save the transaction instead of completing it. In this case, it will be stored in the “Pending Authorizations” section. The saved bank transfer can be completed at any time.
Our team “invented a cure” for one of the most pressing problems of modern people have - paying utility bills. Why would people want to stay in line several times every month to make a cash payment when they can take care of all their bills online in minutes, regardless of where they are and what time of the day it is? The users of My Fibank can link practically all of their subscription accounts to the online system. The list includes accounts for mobile services, electricity, childcare services and so on. Practically all services which people use on a monthly basis are covered. After the initial setup, users can keep track of pending payments and make bank transfers directly to the service providers via any of their Fibank accounts. The risk of not paying the electricity bill and having the power at your place shut off while you are entertaining friends is reduced to the minimum.
Simplifying and improving credit card management was another one of our achievements. Each card has a summary in the “Cards” section of the system. It includes the remaining credit, the outstanding balance and the minimum payment. Users can repay part of or the entire outstanding balance online without wasting any time. Another useful feature is the registering of a special 3D password for making more secure online payments with debit and credit cards.
To those who use email all the time (just like us), we gave quick access to the email banking services of First Investment Bank. They can register for and use services such as “SWIFT transactions by email” and “Card authorizations by email” directly online. Activating or deactivating a service takes just one click.
To make the transition to digital management of personal and business finances smooth, we included maps and lists with the bank’s branches and ATMs in My Fibank. Thanks to the Google Maps integration, users can find the nearest branch or ATM in seconds and get directions to reach it.
What more could customers want from the renovated online banking system of First Investment Bank? Answer:
to personalize it. Personalization is easy, using the settings, which are organized in a separate menu. Users can name their accounts and cards such as “money for exotic holidays”, for instance.
The intuitive interface makes all settings incredibly easy to adjust.
Customers can now contact the bank solely online. They can send messages directly via the system. When they receive a reply, a notification appears in the message section of the menu. There is no way someone can miss it.
The modernized online banking system My Fibank is now used by hundreds of thousands of people and unlike the traditional branches, it’s open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. At Whiz, we take great pride in the fact that we are among the pioneers in the digitalization of banking services in Bulgaria. Together with First Investment Bank AD, our company continues to bring innovation to online banking.
