Bancolombia
How can a behavioural science-informed app design contribute to greater financial well-being of bank customers?
Private Organisation | Financial Wellbeing | Behavioural Finance | Digital Solutions | Product Design
Context
Bancolombia is a leading Latin-American banking group with a highly successful digital service offering. Among other features, their private client app includes a 'personal financial manager' (PFM) tool, enabling customers to obtain concise information and feedback on their financial situation and behaviour. It provides an intuitive overview of income and spending in different categories and shows the income history alongside information on good spending and saving behaviour. Moreover, it presents a platform for the broader solution network of the bank and functions as a hub for a holistic client experience.
Example 1: Bancolombia Banking App - PFM tool
Challenge
How can a behavioural science-informed app design contribute to greater financial well-being of bank customers?
Together with Bancolombia, Affective tackled the challenge to redesign the type and style of information in the PFM tool to make it more relevant and accessible for users. Our focus was to help clients understand and process details on their personal financial situation, and to provide guidance on how to act in the future.
The objective was to identify behavioural hotspots that motivate or hinder a quick and intuitive uptake and naturally human processing of the provided information. Furthermore, it was intended to develop behavioural interventions addressing the identified hotspots together with the product team.
The ultimate aim was to contribute to a human-centred and truly enjoyable user experience as well as an increased engagement with the app’s services and features. Together, we aimed to create greater financial well-being and health of Bancolombia’s clients.
Approach
Firstly, and as part of the project framework set up, Affective and the behavioural experts from Bancolombia defined the behavioural challenges in detail, specifying the scope and hotspots of the project.
Secondly, Affective conducted cultural and contextual research and a review of scientific and best practice literature in financial well-being, user-centred design and learning engagement in the context of the app.
Thirdly, Affective conducted a comprehensive behavioural audit of the products and the app which was presented to Bancolombia’s team in combination with findings from the previous research phase.
Fourthly, Affective ideated and co-created potential solutions based on the previously identified hotspots from the audit and summarised relevant behavioural insights with the product team in a longlist
In the last step, the interdisciplinary team prioritised interventions on the longlist along a Bancolombia-specific prioritisation matrix resulting in a concise and actionable intervention shortlist. Afterwards the interventions were implemented by the development and product teams.
Concepts
Together with Bancolombia’s in-house behavioural experts, the B-Lab, and product designers, Affective applied several behavioural science concepts and methods in this project. Selected concepts include among others:
Processing Friction and Fluency
Salience Effects
Messenger Effects
Social Norms
Feedback Devices
Defaults
Deliverables
The project’s main output was a concise list of interventions for the product team to test and implement. It was designed to address the identified behavioural hotspots, increase the user experience of the PFM tool and eventually improve clients’ financial well-being.
Example 2: Behavioural Science Audit - Hotspot analysis within the PFM tool
Reference
"Working with Affective has allowed us to use behavioural science insights to redesign and boost our solutions to improve adoption, create positive impact and foster wellbeing among our customers. Affective seeks to share knowledge and inspire teams to think creatively in a truly open and collaborative way. Working with Affective is dynamic, fun and based on science. We look forward to continuing our collaboration in the future."
Sergio Peláez Jaramillo, Head of Behavioural Science, Bancolombia