Banking Solutions for
Non-Traditional Business
Providing alternative banking &
payment processing solutions for high-risk merchants.
payment processing solutions for high-risk merchants.
Bill My Bank offers high-risk merchants an alternative payment method that enables consumers to purchase using traditional banking methods. Bill My Bank is a merchant service provider that provides services similar to conventional banks, catering to high-risk or non-traditional businesses that may be underbanked due to the nature of their business. Bill My Bank's merchant services are available to industries such as CBD distributors and online casinos, with the added capability of integrating with their eCommerce services.
Non-traditional businesses seeking financial banking services may be rejected due to the nature of their business. Due to their size or the nature of their content or service, some companies do not fit into societal constructs. Due to the difficulties in obtaining traditional bank accounts, some businesses opt for cash-only transactions, which can result in lost sales from customers who prefer electronic banking. The aim was to develop a platform that enables consumers to purchase with their bank, track sales, and manage the business for this sector.
The Goal
Meeting Vendors & Customers where they are.
Considering this untapped market, the business established a platform to meet customers' banking needs and provide access through the online back office website. Although it may serve customers on one platform, the business needed a more portable way to service these customers from a mobile perspective. Small merchants typically use table kiosks or mobile devices to serve customers in-store or on-site. However, they can also provide access to transactions through online mobile applications or merchant/vendor websites, allowing vendors to quickly and efficiently track banking details while delivering customers a retail experience. How do we expand the platform and develop one that enables customers to purchase with their bank, track sales, and manage the business for this sector?
Pictured above is the original website for Bill My Bank.
The Bill My Bank project was already in progress upon joining the team. During this time, I was responsible for the UX/UI design of the project, which aimed to create a solution for mobile that bridged the gap between the front office dashboard, managing vendor banking transactions, and customer-to-vendor interaction via mobile app, with a specific focus on the new customer account process. Collaborating with the product team and stakeholders, I helped flesh out system and user requirements to build a more consistent and cohesive solution that enables users to manage their business transactions and process them more easily from anywhere. I played an integral role in mapping out user journeys and service workflows and building wireframes and prototypes as part of the process.
Background
How can we offer payment services to clients with non-traditional businesses and increase revenue by promoting sales through alternative banking services?
Goals + Aspirations
Provide an easy, cost-effective banking and payment service for businesses without traditional banking solutions.
Enable more transactions digitally through the platform and from the app.
Cash-only and digital sales can be easily tracked and managed within the app.
Increase access through easy onboarding + setup of accounts through the app.
Establish legitimacy for your business with alternative business models.
My Work
Identified user needs and product requirements
Conducted local user research to validate design decisions and identify opportunities for improvements
A comparative analysis of existing mobile apps and competitors across the fintech industry
Identified user needs and product requirements
My Role
Role: UI/UX Designer + Researcher on the team
Timeline: September 2020 - April 2021
Division: Mobile App
Technology Stack & Tools
Discover, Define, + Refine the Process
Starting with the Bill My Bank online back-office platform and vendor websites, I first mapped out current state vendor and customer journeys to identify gaps and apply them to a mobile implementation. Determining what steps the users would need to take and what would be necessary for a customer to complete the checkout process using the Bill My Bank Payment platform options.
I needed to define the process to ensure secure authentication on BMB from vendors' sites or apps. Additionally, I needed to determine how users can create/set up a BMB account while in the checkout flow. Lastly, I needed to explore ways to create a secure process that would make it easy for returning customers to check out quickly.
Pictured above are feature mapping for Bill My Bank login flow for mobile project
Solutions & Direction
Wire-framing + Prototyping
With the insights from user journeys and research, I transformed the concepts and information into visual data that could be circulated for feedback. Focusing on increasing revenue throughput, we prioritized vendor checkout and developed a seamless mobile checkout process that provides a clear purchase experience for consumers and helps vendors utilize their bank. We aimed to design a customer-centric, easy, and frictionless checkout for customers.
Results Gained, Experiences &
Main Takeaways
Main Takeaways
We were able to move forward with the design concept and build out more of the mobile checkout process for the Bill My Bank platform, thanks to the positive feedback we received from vendors.
Getting feedback from vendors and customers helped us bridge the gap and provide a functional and user-friendly checkout for our platform.
Bill My Bank app is available in both mobile iOS and Android platforms for both vendor and customers.
Summary
The app MVP was launched into the app store in early 2022. I moved to a new project a couple of months after.
