Digital Inclusion & Transformation
The Client: A Leading Commercial Bank in Africa
Overview: Fidelity Bank, a leading Tier 1 commercial bank, faced a critical challenge: bridging the gap between its robust digital capabilities and limited user engagement. Despite significant technological investments, customers primarily used basic features, highlighting a disconnect between the bank's digital potential and actual user behaviour.
Market Context
Africa's rapidly evolving digital banking landscape
Growing customer expectations for seamless financial services
Shift from traditional to digital-first banking experiences
Strategic Imperative The transformation aimed to:
Modernize service delivery through digital channels
Enhance accessibility to financial services
Improve operational efficiency
Drive customer satisfaction across digital touchpoints
This initiative represented more than a simple app redesign—it was a fundamental shift in how Fidelity Bank serves and engages with its customers in the digital age.
My Role & Contributions:
Led UX research to uncover critical pain points for diaspora and rural customers, shaping the design to better serve these underserved groups.
Created detailed personas and customer journey maps to guide design decisions and ensure the platform met the diverse needs of the bank’s clientele.
Introduced AI-driven financial insights that improved user engagement by providing personalized banking experiences.
Designed with accessibility in mind, ensuring that the platform was inclusive for users of all abilities.
Collaborated with cross-functional teams to ensure seamless integration between design and development, delivering a scalable and future-proof digital platform for Fidelity Bank.
2 UI/UX Designers
1 UX Researcher
2 Front-end Developers
Team Size:
Figma
Miro
Whimsical
Google Forms
Tools Used:
Project Duration:
6 weeks
My Role & Contributions:
Led UX research and Design to uncover critical pain points for diaspora and rural customers, shaping the design to serve these underserved groups better.
Created detailed personas and customer journey maps to guide design decisions and ensure the platform met the diverse needs of the bank’s clientele.
Introduced AI-driven financial insights that improved user engagement by providing personalized banking experiences.
Designed with accessibility in mind, ensuring that the platform was inclusive for users of all abilities.
Collaborated with cross-functional teams to ensure seamless integration between design and development, delivering a scalable and future-proof digital platform for Fidelity Bank.
2 UI/UX Designers
1 UX Researcher
2 Front-end Developers
Team Size:
Figma
Miro
Whimsical
Google Forms
Tools Used:
Project Duration:
6 weeks
Project Overview
Africa's financial landscape is rapidly evolving, with instant payments and digital transactions becoming the norm. Since 2014, instant transfers have grown to dominate 67% of all bank transactions, driven by rising FinTech innovations and changing customer expectations.
As a long-time Fidelity Bank customer, I noticed my own limited use of their mobile banking app. This personal experience sparked a crucial question: How many other customers were missing out on the app's full capabilities, and what barriers were preventing wider adoption?
Problem Framing
Despite Fidelity Bank's position as a leading e-Banking provider and its significant investment in digital services, the mobile app faces critical user engagement challenges:
Hidden Value: While excelling in peer-to-peer payments, other valuable features remain undiscovered by users
Poor Discoverability: Complex navigation and unclear feature presentation limit user exploration
Limited Impact: Low user engagement with advanced features reduces the ROI on technological investments
This unexplored potential suggests an urgent need to reimagine the app's user experience to drive feature discovery and increase customer engagement.
The Existing User Experience & Design Challenge
Current user behaviour shows a clear pattern: most customers use the app solely for basic payments, missing its full potential. Our analytics and user interviews revealed that:
Users adopt a "get in, get out" approach, primarily for essential transactions
Poor usability creates barriers to feature exploration
Limited engagement persists despite regular app usage
Design Challenge:
“How might we redesign a banking and payment app to improve its underused features and change users’ perception?”
Fidelity Bank is a leading financial institution in Nigeria, operating in a competitive landscape with numerous banks focused on enhancing user experiences.
To elevate the Fidelity Bank mobile app, I conducted a comprehensive competitive analysis, evaluating other banking apps and examining user feedback.
This analysis provided deep insights into the strengths and weaknesses of competing financial brands, equipping me with strategic direction to design superior, user-centered solutions for Fidelity Bank.
Competitive Analysis & Benchmarking
Design Process & Methodology:
Leading Fidelity Bank's digital transformation, I implemented a systematic eight-phase approach to revolutionize their digital banking experience. Our structured methodology combined user research, design innovation, and technical implementation to deliver a cohesive banking platform that serves diverse customer needs.
1. Discovery & Research: Conducted user interviews across diverse customer segments and analyzed competitor offerings to identify pain points and opportunities.
2. Analysis, Personas & Problem Definition: Created targeted personas representing key user groups to guide design decisions and address specific customer challenges.
3. Ideation & Design Strategy: Led cross-functional workshops to develop a roadmap prioritizing Omni-channel mobile banking, personalized dashboards, and improved customer service.
4. Design Systems, Prototyping & Wireframes: Developed and tested wireframes and prototypes for core banking functions, focusing on reducing friction in user flows.
5. AI-Driven Enhancements: Implemented personalized insights and predictive recommendations based on user behaviour and transaction history.
6. Accessibility & Inclusion: Incorporated WCAG 2.1 standards with features like voice commands and enlarged text to ensure inclusive access.
7. Collaboration & Execution: Partnered with IT, brands & marketing communications, compliance and customer service teams to ensure efficient development and deployment.
8. Reflection & Continuous Optimization: Monitored post-launch metrics and user feedback to guide continuous platform improvements.
”Very frustrating app. There are too many unnecessary requirements such that it becomes almost impossible to do a simple transfer or even buy airtime on the app. I'm uninstalling it right away. I have nothing more to say.”
- Voice of a Customer
Pain Points Identified
Cluttered Selection of application features not listed or accessible on the home screen.
The users have to save a new beneficiary for every transaction initiated on the app
Lack of “Favourite App service list” — The Quick operations that a user frequently transacts with.
Bill Payment Options — Users are unaware of the Bill payment options like Merchant payment, booking,
Electricity Bill Payment, and others that are present in the app.
Lack of service discoverability and feature awareness.
Process & Methodology:
In leading the UX redesign for Fidelity Bank’s digital transformation, I focused on creating a cohesive, user-centered experience across all digital channels. The following process highlights my approach to tackling the bank’s complex challenges and ensuring seamless integration of new technologies with customer needs.
1. Discovery & Research: I initiated the project by conducting comprehensive user research through interviews with diverse customer groups, including diaspora and rural customers. This allowed me to uncover pain points, behavioral patterns, and unmet needs within the existing digital banking platforms. I also performed a competitive analysis of fintech leaders to benchmark against the best practices in the industry.
2. Analysis, Personas & Problem Definition: By synthesizing research insights, I developed detailed personas representing key user groups such as tech-savvy millennials, older users, and customers with accessibility needs. These personas guided design decisions throughout the project to ensure that the solutions addressed real customer challenges, like difficulty accessing services or concerns about security.
3. Ideation & Design Strategy: Leading cross-functional ideation workshops, I collaborated with Fidelity Bank’s internal teams to align business goals with user needs. Together, we outlined a strategic roadmap that prioritized features such as mobile banking enhancements, personalized dashboards, and improved customer service touchpoints. The focus was on creating an omni-channel experience that unified mobile, web, and in-branch services
4. Design Systems, Prototyping & Wireframes: I developed low-fidelity wireframes for critical user flows, including account management, fund transfers, and bill payments. The goal was to streamline these processes, reduce friction, and make them accessible to all users. These wireframes were transformed into interactive prototypes, which we tested early with selected users to gather feedback and refine the design.
5. AI-Driven Enhancements: I introduced AI-driven features, such as personalized financial insights and predictive banking recommendations, which adapted to user behavior. By integrating machine learning models, the platform provided tailored banking solutions to users based on their transaction history, improving their overall financial management experience.
6. Accessibility & Inclusion: Ensuring the platform was inclusive, I designed with accessibility in mind, incorporating WCAG 2.1 standards. I simplified navigation for users with disabilities and created options like voice commands and enlarged text to accommodate older users and those in rural areas with limited tech experience.
7. Collaboration & Execution: I collaborated closely with Fidelity Bank’s IT, marketing, and customer service teams, ensuring the design was implemented efficiently and aligned with business objectives. Regular check-ins with the technical team helped to bridge the gap between design and development, ensuring that the platform was built to scale and perform optimally.
8. Reflection & Continuous Optimization: Post-launch, I used data analytics and customer feedback to monitor the performance of the digital platforms. By assessing key metrics such as user engagement, transaction volumes, and customer satisfaction, I identified areas for further refinement, ensuring the platform continued to evolve in line with user expectations and market trends.
Enhanced User Experience in Retail and Corporate Online Banking
The redesign and digital transformation strategies modernized banking services, creating a more inclusive and accessible experience for diverse customers. This transformation not only streamlined the bank’s operations but also empowered its customers with greater control over their financial journeys.
150k+
+24%
Customer Acquistions
Daily Transactions
The Solution:
Redefining Mobile Banking - Predict and shape the future by creating it
Our goal was to create a seamless, personalized, and highly intuitive mobile banking experience. The vision was to give users effortless control over their finances through clear, user-centred design while fostering trust through transparency and financial empowerment.
North Star & Guiding Principles
User-Centricity
Transparency & Trust
Personalization
Efficiency
Scalability & Flexibility
Innovation-Driven
By anchoring each decision to this vision and these principles, the project achieved a cohesive, impactful experience, setting a high standard for intuitive mobile banking.
Smart Account Dashboard
Features scrollable account cards displaying real-time balances, visual indicators for different account types, and quick-access buttons for transfers and statements.
Personalized Quick Actions Hub
Offers customizable shortcuts based on user activity, drag-and-drop favourites, and intelligent suggestions.
Integrated Marketing Platform
Includes interactive banners, swipeable carousels for promotions, and personalized notifications for offers.
Data Analytics Module:
Provides an insights dashboard with customizable views, spending visualizations, and the ability to export reports.
We developed a simplified user experience with real-time account insights, personalized shortcuts, targeted promotions, and advanced analytics—making banking more accessible, efficient, and engaging.
This Feature was designed to help the customer have more visibility and accessibility to a wide range of services the bank is offering, Easing the discoverability of the services & features in the app,
On the previous UI, the services menu was hidden at the top left section with a hamburger menu. This made it visually difficult for users to be aware of the features unless they clicked to toggle the view.
Services Menu & Businesses Simplified
Key UX Improvements
We developed a simplified user flow to streamline the transaction process by incorporating all necessary information. To enhance the user experience, I provided the top three related beneficiary banks for users to choose from when they enter an account number, rather than presenting a long list of banks. This change makes transactions faster and more seamless.
Improved Transaction User Journey
Tailored Banking Solutions: Empowering Retail and Corporate Users
The redesign of Fidelity Bank’s mobile app needed to address the distinct requirements of both retail and corporate users, creating a seamless experience for each while enhancing the overall platform.
Retail Banking: Personal & Convenient
Corporate Banking: Control & Efficiency
Goal: Support business clients with advanced tools to manage complex transactions, approvals, and cash flow at scale.
Key Features:
Approval Workflows: Customizable approvals for better control over funds.
Multi-Account Management: Role-based access for team collaboration and monitoring.
Real-Time Analytics: Overview of transactions, account activity, and cash flow for quick decision-making.
Goal: Providing everyday banking users with a tailored experience, empowering them to manage personal finances with ease.
Key Features:
Quick Actions Hub: Fast access to top features like transfers, payments, and savings based on user behaviour.
Financial Insights: Spending visuals and data insights for easy financial tracking.
Account Dashboard: Scrollable cards show real-time balances, recent transactions, and quick actions.
Retail & Corporate Online Banking
We redesigned the digital banking platform, enhancing usability, accessibility, and customer engagement through a seamless, user-centered experience.
Retail & Corporate Online Banking
The redesign and digital transformation strategies modernized banking services, creating a more inclusive and accessible experience for diverse customers. This transformation not only streamlined the bank’s operations but also empowered its customers with greater control over their financial journeys.
The Solution:
The Impact
35% Increase in Digital Adoption: More customers engaged with the mobile app and web platforms, particularly in the diaspora and younger segments.
15% Reduction in In-Branch Visits: Digital solutions led to fewer in-branch visits, allowing staff to focus on complex tasks.
20% Boost in Customer Satisfaction: Improved usability, faster transactions, and personalized experiences drove higher satisfaction.
45% Growth in Mobile Transactions: Increased usage of mobile features like fund transfers, bill payments, and real-time financial insights.
Enhanced Accessibility: WCAG-compliant design ensured inclusive access for customers with disabilities.
Stronger Security: Multi-factor authentication and biometric login reduced fraud while maintaining ease of use.
3.2M+
+45%
Transaction Volume
Happy customers
Key Learnings
User-Centered Design Drives Adoption: By prioritizing customer needs, particularly those of underserved demographics, we were able to encourage greater digital adoption and loyalty
Balance Between Security and Usability: Security features must be robust, but they should not create unnecessary friction for users. Striking the right balance was key to building trust without compromising experience.
Collaboration Across Teams is Essential: Engaging all stakeholders early on, from IT to customer service, ensured that the final solution addressed both business objectives and user needs.
Scalable Infrastructure is Key for Future Growth: Modernizing the bank’s backend systems allowed for easier integration of future enhancements and positioned the bank for long-term success.
"Melvin's strategic UX vision transformed our digital presence, setting new standards in banking user experience."
CTO, Fidelity Bank Plc
★★★★★
