Designing Success in Fintech
Fintech has gone on a journey from being a disruptor to the financial sector to the mainstream. It’s also inspired a wave of thoughtful design and creativity forcing legacy institutions to innovate in digital, UX, and design. This has benefited consumers no end with design promoting simplicity, and accessibility creating an intuitive and seamless user experience.
But this revolution comes with challenges. Customers are still sceptical about fintech. They can be hesitant when adopting and trusting new financial technologies. And as with all tech, competition is fierce. Established financial institutions are vying for market share with well-funded startups and more mature businesses.
We sat down with three fine thinkers and design leaders Aaron Robbs, Creative Director at Ramp, Michael Jeter, Executive Creative Director at Stripe, and Nick Farrar, Founder and Managing Director at Shaped By, to explore how design can improve your chances of success.
Balancing disruption and toeing the line
Aaron Robbs from Ramp, a transformative fintech company, has a brilliant analogy for balancing disruption and toeing the line. He says it’s like finding the right wardrobe. You need timeless things that are going to resonate with your audience, while still being aspirational. Think type scale, how things move when they animate, or just having like unexpectedly great photography for a fintech company. These are the consistent bits that hold things together. You don’t want pieces in your wardrobe that are very different from each other because it’s hard to mix and match.
But you can let your personality come through in a brand campaign for example. If you’re at a party, you have to think about how you’re going to show up, say something interesting, and stand out or be memorable. That’s where you can add a bit of spice to your clothes.
Why you need to humanise your fintech brand
Without your users, you’re nothing. As a fintech company, you want to talk about your customers and users without taking any credit for their success. As Michael Jeter says “You’re this supporting, behind-the-scenes player, that’s pushing for success and trying to build tools that reduce friction for their success.”
You need to think about how the company can talk about their brand and what they believe but as a supporting player. Pleo are a lovely example of how you do this with their ‘power to your people’ idea. It shows how people can work smarter and more autonomously, knowing that Pleo is supporting behind the scenes. This is backed up with no retouching on photography of the Pleo team and its customers, and a warm note of voice that’s real and avoids clichés.
It’s a unique challenge, but these are kind of the ingredients where you start to create a unique brand and storytelling. The value you bring and how you do that in a way that’s appreciated and supported, but also not taking credit or being “braggadocious” (an amazing Jeter quote) at the same time.
The visual design reflects a brand’s visible personality
While traditionally fintech has been associated with disruptive brands in the financial industry, it’s wrong to think it’s all about brash design to go alongside it. It’s an industry where you need a huge amount of trust to be recognised and to flourish. Nick Farrar points out this is another key area where really good design can have an impact. The right design sets the tone, and visual design reflects the brand’s personality. You need to have a well-considered design language that makes you look established and instil trust.
This is exactly what Stripe does. It invests heavily in producing high-quality designs in the belief that the more beautiful and well-crafted a design, the higher the quality it exudes—and the higher the trust it cultivates. This principle helps Stripe differentiate itself in the market while building credibility.
The fintech industry is dynamic and full of potential. There’s an opportunity to create unique interactions that set fintech brands apart and foster lasting customer relationships.
Let’s chat about how design can boost your fintech brand.
