Fintech UX Design: Challenges and Best Practices

Fintech UX Design

As technology rapidly advances, the fintech industry has raced to keep up. While new trends and regulations are constantly emerging, fintech companies must not only quickly adapt, but they must also remain user-friendly and compliant. There’s a lot to balance, but through prioritizing the best UX design, fintech companies can provide a positive experience for users.

What exactly is fintech?

Fintech is exactly how it sounds—a fusion of finance and technology. If you’ve used a banking app, split a bill with Venmo, or invested in digital assets, you’ve already utilized fintech.

Here are some examples of fintech companies:

• Neobanks (also called digital banks): Chime, Nubank
• Mobile payments: Square, Venmo
• International money transfers: Wise, WorldRemit
• Investing: Gotrade, Wealthfront
• Insurance: Oscar, Lemonade
• Regulatory: Onfido, ComplyAdvantage
• Lending: Kabbage, LendingClub
• Cryptocurrency: Coinbase, Gemini
• Blockchain: Chain, Bitfury

How can you achieve a successful fintech user experience?

There are four key contributing elements:

Usability

Fintech platforms should prioritize intuitive design that is efficient and easy to navigate. Designs will be extra impactful when they are personalized to users and their specific needs. Leverage data to offer customized recommendations and notifications so users feel valued.

Accessibility

Because a diverse range of users implements fintech, platforms must be accessible, with features like screen readers and visual or audio cues, for people with visual impairments and motor disabilities. Fintech UX design must also reflect each user’s preferred language and currency.

Trust and Security

Fintech platforms are operating with money, so users are particularly concerned with security. Once customer trust is broken, it’s difficult to rebuild. Financial organizations are some of the most vulnerable to cyber attacks, so be sure to implement strong security measures like two-factor authentication and data encryption. It’s much more affordable to invest in cyber security sooner rather than later, as IBM details in their Cost of a Data Breach Report 2022. Last year, the average cost of a data breach was $4.35 million, an all-time high in IBM’s 17 years of research.

Continuous Iteration and Improvement

As with any UX experience, the work is never done. Fintech companies must continuously seek user feedback, analyze their data, pinpoint areas for improvement, and regularly update. Additionally, there must be clear avenues for customer support for ongoing user satisfaction.

Why must fintech companies prioritize good UX design?

Efficient UX design is necessary for a positive user experience, making it a worthwhile long-term investment for your company for several reasons:

Trust and credibility

As we mentioned above, trust is extremely valuable for fintech companies. Your design is going to make the first impression when users are determining whether or not they can rely on your service. If your platform is well-designed and intuitive, customers will be more likely to feel assured that their financial information is secure.

User engagement and retention

One way to reduce customer churn is to keep users satisfied with your platform through good UX design. Acquiring new customers costs five to seven times more than retaining existing ones, so engaging UX design must be a priority for fintech companies. Additionally, customers will be more likely to recommend your company to others.

Regulatory compliance

A well-designed user interface can clearly communicate terms, fees, and policies to meet legal obligations and guide users through any necessary steps for obtaining required consent. These regulations can be confusing for users, but good UX design can simplify this complex information and walk users through seamlessly.

Competitive advantage

In such a highly competitive industry, superior UX design may be the advantage that your company needs to capture a user’s attention. Customers are much more likely to choose a platform that is intuitive and easy to use, which can be achieved through best UX design practices.

Cost savings

Good UX design will reduce the risks of costly security breaches and errors, and with increased user satisfaction, you will have lower customer support costs, not to mention the cost savings of attracting and retaining customers.

What are the specific challenges to fintech UX design?

Meeting regulatory and compliance restrictions - Because of the high risk of financial fraud in the fintech industry, companies must meet various regulations and compliance requirements. UX designers are responsible for being well-versed in these legal obligations so the UX design can highlight any disclaimers and data protection standards that must be met, such as AML (anti-money laundering) and KYC (know your customer).

Security and trust

Providing security for users and their data is crucial for fintech companies, who are among the most likely to be targeted for cyber security attacks. Many users choose simple passwords that leave them vulnerable to bad actors, so it’s up to companies to design systems that will not accept passwords that are too easy to crack and provide two-factor authentication. Fintech companies must find the balance between usability and security for a positive user experience.

Complexity of financial processes

In addition to the challenges posed by meeting legal obligations and fostering trust, fintech companies have many complex elements that can be overwhelming for users. Additionally, users risk reaching cognitive overload when faced with the many questions fintech companies must present. Good UX design can help companies provide clear explanations and tools to assist users in their decision-making processes.

Keeping up with technological advancements

New technologies, trends, and innovations are constantly emerging in the fintech industry, making it a challenge for designers to stay updated and keep their designs relevant and competitive. Because bad actors and cyber attackers are also constantly innovating, there must be an emphasis on continuously updating security measures.

Balancing automation and human interaction

It’s the responsibility of fintech companies and their UX design strategies to help users effortlessly manage their spending habits and funds. Automation and AI are great for simple processes, but they cannot understand context, ethics, and morals. Fintech UX designers must consider the risks and benefits of both automated processes and opportunities for human interaction.

How can fintech UX designers overcome these challenges?

Simplify processes

The financial processes and regulations in the fintech industry can be extremely complex for users. Simplify these steps as much as possible, using clear and concise language, providing tooltips, and implementing progress bars so users know where they are in the process. At the top of onboarding forms, highlight the user’s value proposition, and prefill forms for existing customers when they apply for a new product or service. While designers should be familiar with fintech regulatory requirements, consider collaborating with compliance experts to ensure the necessary regulations are met.

While it may seem counterintuitive, it is also important for fintech companies to implement small hurdles in the user flow, or positive friction, to prevent impulsive actions or simple mistakes.

Maximize displays

Because fintech companies are required to display large amounts of data, UX design can be implemented to simplify the user experience and reduce overwhelm. Be aware of how labels, colors, fonts, and headings are being utilized, and consider what content can be labeled as secondary and dispersed behind carousels or accordions.

When it comes to long forms, divide them into separate steps and keep users informed on how long the form should take to complete as well as how much progress they have made. Allow users to save progress and return at a later time if necessary.

Enhance trust and security

Without compromising usability, embed strong security measures into the design like two-factor authentication, data encryption, and more, and communicate how you’re protecting data to users. Empower customers by giving them control over privacy settings and permissions.

Stay updated with industry trends

Continuously expand your knowledge of new trends, technologies, and user expectations. Engage with other professionals in the industry, attend conferences, and incorporate your learnings into your designs. Additionally, fintech companies should conduct user testing and gather feedback through the UX design process and beyond.

Personalization

Interfaces should be customizable based on user preference, with recommendations based on users’ financial history and goals. This may also include finding opportunities to educate users. Consider incorporating game design elements for an interactive and enjoyable user experience.

Conclusion

In an industry so rife with complex information and processes, companies must prioritize the best fintech UX design possible to provide an exceptional user experience.

At DOOR3, our designers and developers understand the importance of cultivating a positive user experience through user-centric interfaces, increased security, intuitive design, and more, so your users can rest easy knowing their financial information is safe and secure. Contact us today.