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Designing a Global Payment experience
Project
Prospa (Global Payments)
Platform
Mobile and WebApp
Year
2023
About
Prospa aimed to enhance its member experience by introducing a Global Payments feature. This new functionality empowers Prospa members to send money to different countries, addressing a key need identified through member feedback.
Background Overview
As traditional cash transactions take a backseat to digital methods, the importance of international payments for African businesses becomes increasingly evident. The digital banking sector has experienced a remarkable surge, reaching a value of around $2 trillion in 2019 and is expected to surpass $3 trillion by 2025. Among digital transactions, mobile payments have witnessed explosive growth, with global transaction values surpassing $5 trillion in 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic has further accelerated this shift, leading to a 20-30% increase in digital payment volumes worldwide. African business owners must adeptly navigate these changes while embracing innovation to meet the evolving needs of consumers and businesses on a global scale.
Role
As a pivotal team member, my role included: Designing the Global Payments feature on our mobile and web platforms, Collaborating with stakeholders to understand user needs and expectations, Overseeing the implementation of secure and efficient payment methods and ensuring the user interface struck a balance between security measures and user-friendliness.
I started off by conducting in-depth interviews with existing Prospa members to understand their pain points and challenges related to making international payments.
Explored their current methods and preferences for conducting global transactions, including preferred currencies, payment methods, and frequency of transactions.
Gathered insights into the specific features and functionalities they would expect from a global payments solution to meet their needs effectively
Engaged with internal stakeholders, including product managers, developers, customer support representatives, and marketing teams, to gather insights and requirements for the global payments feature.
The Problem
Prospa identified a significant gap in its offering: the absence of a streamlined global payments feature. Member feedback consistently highlighted the need for a secure, user-friendly, and cost-effective solution for sending money to different countries. The challenge lay in bridging the gap between Prospa's existing capabilities and the growing demand for international transactions, considering the complexities of cross-border payments, varying currencies, and user preferences.
How might we empower Prospa members to effortlessly send money globally, addressing diverse payment preferences and ensuring competitive exchange rates, thereby enhancing their overall deposit value ?
Project Goals
Enable Members to Send Money Globally
The primary objective was to develop a feature allowing Prospa members to seamlessly send money to different countries, meeting the diverse needs of a global user base.
Provide Competitive Exchange Rates
To remain competitive in the fintech landscape, the goal was to offer members attractive exchange rates, encouraging them to choose Prospa for their international transactions
Increase Members' Transaction Volume
By introducing a Global Payments feature, the aim was to not only attract new users but also to increase the frequency and volume of transactions among existing members
User Journey map
Wireframing
After understanding the user journey, I then proceeded to creating sketches of how the new feature will look before finally moving on to design software. PS: I especially enjoy this process using pen and paper.
High fidelity designs
This process involved creating the high fidelity designs and prototype for rapid testing and iteration, I usually came up with a few design ideas in this stage for A/B Testing with the internal team
Review, Development and Testing
The design was then reviewed by the product team, frontend engineer, and sometimes the backend engineer if it involves matching the design to an existing endpoint. Once approved, it was shipped to the frontend engineer to work on it and make a push to the test environment.
And lastly, I interfaced with the product managers and QA testers to make sure the feature solved the problem it set out to solve within the test environment.
Business Impact
Revenue Growth
Market Competitiveness
Member Retention and Acquisition
Results
Product launched in Q4 2023; results are being gathered
Initial feedback suggests positive user reception
Monitoring success metrics: % of successful transfers, total amount transferred, and deposit value increase.
Key Learnings
Flexibility Enhances User Adoption
Offering multiple payment methods and features, such as adding and deleting beneficiaries, provides users with flexibility and control over their transactions, enhancing overall user satisfaction
Transparent Communication Builds Trust
Providing clear and transparent information, especially in terms of exchange rates and transaction proof, builds trust among users and strengthens the app's credibility.
