Launching WeLab Bank
We had 9 months to launch a bank. I was tasked with leading the team in launching the numberless debit card from ideation, product positioning, planning, to go-to market strategy.
Double Diamond Designing Process Approach
I used double diamond approach to launch the bank and the numberless debit card.
JTBD (“Jobs-To-Be-Done”) is a framework to understand people’s motivations for innovation adoption.
01
Discover Stage
How do people in Hong Kong manage, save and grow their money?
Research Objective:
To understand how people in Hong Kong manage, save, and grow their money.
Methods:
15 face-to-face interviews with individuals aged 21-35, targeting early adopters/under-served banking populations (representing 30% of total population). Interviewees were asked about their daily financial practices and challenges via 30 long-form questions.
Questions addressed the following themes:
Everyday Management
-Money management habits
- Spending and budget trackers
Financial
Freedom
-Short and long term financial goals
-Overall financial health
Lifestyle
- Spending behaviours and lifestyle
Growth
-Investment channels and preferences
- Financial education and literacy
02
Define Stage
What are the JBTD for the under-served populations in HK?
On Chart 1, I plotted the JTBD along an x axle (Which jobs do customers most want to make progress on?) and y axle (Which of these jobs are most underserved by the market?)
After conducting 15 face-to-face interviews and 30 follow-up qualitative surveys, I arrived at the Define stage. I narrowed interviewee responses down to twelve (12) Jobs-To-Be-Done in regards to finance management.
After analyzing our data, we were able to narrow down to three (3) Jobs-To-Be-Done statements:
Everyday money management: I want to staying on track with my budget and adapting if necessary (3)
Financial Freedom: I want to maintain a financial safety net to fall back on when I need to (6)
Growth: I want to build long term savings for specific events (buying a house, retirement) (5)
12 Jobs-To-Be Done
3 Personas
03
Develop Stage
What products do we need to build to get the JTBD done?
Possible features to incorporate: Expense Tracker; Subscription management; Visual reports; Bill splitting; AI-driven budget suggestions; Debit Card.
Decision: A Debit Card was chosen as the hero product, with others becoming additional features.
Rationale: Least Effort MVP (Mastercard partnership), User accessibility, Strategic partnerships
Strategic Moves: Aim for a quick launch in 9 months, emphasizing user accessibility and leveraging a strategic partnership with Mastercard for brand trust
Job-To-Be-Done (JTBD) Statement: Build a product that helps users to stay on track with their budgets.
Must-have features:
Card Details: Number, Expiry Date, CVV (Hidden icon for security)
Security: Lost/Freeze Card Function, Reset Card PIN.
Transaction Management: Records, Posting Status (Pending/Posted)
Categories: Icon for Different Spending Categories.
Transaction Actions: ATM Withdrawal, Add Money, Send Money
Settings: Debit Card Transaction Settings
04
Delivery Stage
How do we ship the products and deliver build > measure > learn loop
Usability Testing
Changes made based on different usability tests ran before bank launch:
01
Updated app colour scheme to light mode, orange, yellow, and blue and moved the debit card card details icon to the middle of the page for better visbility.
02
Tested two variations of visuals for app icons: Referrals/Notifications/Setting/Debit card page
03
Adjusted the onboarding flow to improve user navigation.
Conudcted A/B testing on "add to wallet button location for optimization
Outdoor beer event, Sep 2019
Game night event, Oct 2019
Virtual Community Event, Nov 2019
Product Features
Take back control of your spending with the leading Hong Kong virtual bank
Empowering users to control spending
Instant notification for enhanced financial awareness
Seamless integration with your digial wallets
Product Messages
All your transactions will be deducted from your available balance in your Core Account; that way, you'll never spend more than you have!
Goodbye overspending, hello healthy budgeting👋!
Customer Manifesto
"At our virtual bank, we understand that living in an expensive city like Hong Kong can be challenging. We are committed to empowering you to make the most out of your money by providing effortless tools to understand and control your spending. We believe in helping you save for the future, even on a low income and tight budget. Additionally, we strive to make investing accessible and easy to understand by providing digestible information and guidance. Our goal is to support you in managing, saving, and growing your money, so you can achieve your dreams." Customers don’t want a bank. They want to take better control with money.”
Go-to-market Strategy
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Digital marketing channels (SEO, SEM, Display banner, Youtube)
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Social media (IG & FB)
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Partnerships (Mastercard, Adidas, Food related brand)
Primary KPIs:
-
Customer acquisition number: 7,000 new users per month
-
1-2 transactions per week for the first month onboarding for the debit card
OOH Bus advertisement
Youtube Financial Education Content
Customers can open an account anytime, anywhere in as fast as 5 minutes, immediately use the virtual Debit Card to earn 8%^ cash rebates, and board the GoSave minibus to earn competitive interest rates. The experience is simple and straightforward.
Results
Build > Measure > Learn Loop
Segmented Onboarding Campaigns
Objective: Increase new user activation
Action:
- Work with data science team to dissect customers into 4 different segments based on number of txn per month (zero txn, 1-4 txn, 5-8 txn, more than 8txn)
- Create personalized card campaigns for each customer segment, highlighting relevant promotions based on spending behavior
Measurement:
Track new user sign-ups and initial transactions
Foodie Delights Campaigns
Objective: Enhance engagement for users (3 txn/week)
Action:
-Leveraging transaction data, we identified F&B as a user hotspot
-Introducing exclusive discounts, partnerships, and rewards to amplify the dining experience
Measurement:
Track transaction frequency and volume
Results:
Retention: 10% txn transactions growth MoM
Acquisition: Acquire 5,000 users per month via card campaigns which contributes 50% of the number of new customers
Learnings
Simplify the user experience
Users are often time-crunched and distracted, so leverage visual design and defaults to make primary actions clear
Ambiguity and confusion lead to dropouts
Ensure labels are straightforward
Balancing security and builder-friendliness
While security was paramount, efforts were made to improve ease in constructing modules on the core banking system. Launching faced engineering hurdles due to a multi-cloud setup and varied configurations in the core banking system.
Striking a balance between user satisfaction and business priorities
While our users value instant gratification features like instant cash rebates, the reality is that such features might not align with revenue generation.