Role: UX UI Design | Team: 5 Members | Duration: 48 hours | Year: 2016
This project was built in a 48 hours finance themed hackathoon at Deloitte Edinburgh by our team of designer, developer and marketer (Eishel, Loral Quinn, Robbie Miller, Grant and Robert Hutchinson). It was awarded first class prize by director of Deloitte, Kent Mackenzie.
The finance industry cannot resist the rapid, technology-driven changes that have turned other industries upside-down and inside out. New digital players are springing up and promising to change the way we as customers live our lives and do business. Every area of financial services is being disrupted.
How can we use financial technologies to design a product for millennials?
The challenges of this hackathon focuse on two main areas. Firstly, financial inclusion. Last year, a World Bank report had the number of ‘unbanked’ adults in the world at 2 billion! That’s two billion who are underserved or excluded by the existing financial services infrastructure. These people may not have access to bank accounts, be able to apply for loans, or have the financial literacy or tools required to adequately manage personal finances. With so many left marginalised from access to financial services, tech companies have seen an opportunity to take the lead and disrupt the finance sector by designing and delivering services in a smarter and more inclusive way.
Secondly, designing finance products for millennials. Apparently most millennials would rather see their dentist than deal with their banks! All four of the big banks are in the top 10 least loved brands by millennials. Furthermore, 73% of millenials would be more excited about a new offering in financial services from a tech company like Apple or Google than from their own banks. So what exactly is it that millennials want in a financial partner? What should finance products aimed at millennials look like? Facebook mined conversations from its millennial users and came up with some insights about how millennials relate to financial services, what they want from banking providers and where the industry could have the most impact. Millennials’ financial priorities are reducing debt and saving for the future. They want financial partners to understand them. They want to be recognised and rewarded for their loyalty. And they want transparency/honesty. Products for millennials should be easy to use and convenient. Banks should take a mobile-centric approach. The size of the opportunity here is huge. There is yet to be a Google or Facebook in the financial sector.
Inspired by Penny for London and pushed open banking API plan in the UK(announced by government last month), our idea is to provide a transparent social platform for millennials to donate pennies to good causes they care about, with bank cards through everyday purchasing.
By designing the app as a form of social network, we addressed the challenge of the hackathon, which is designing finance products for millennials. With our app, millennials can follow their favorite celebrities, bands, friends and what they are caring about. In the meantime, shops and employers can give rewards by donating to causes customers and employees care about.
