Problem

Money transfers between peers are commonplace in the fintech, app-based banking space. Products like Venmo, Chime, and Cash App dominate the market for peer-to-peer cash transfers. But what do you do when you need something more structured and formal? Forget banks and predatory payday loans.

The main challenges we aimed to address with this app and its user flows were to eliminate or reduce choice paralysis and simplify the lending process to its most basic components. We also sought to bring clarity to loan repayment and empower the borrower.

Another challenge was market differentiation. The original pitch for the product did little more than automate the work of a calculator and we sought to resolve that.

Inspiration

We wanted to align with other fintech peer-to-peer apps to ensure familiarity and establish trust with the user base, leading to greater adoption. We studied Venmo's user experience, both past and present, and reviewed a variety of other fintech experiences.

Solution

The app speaks for itself. The most basic aspects of the loan or borrowing process—loan amount, interest rate, and repayment terms (whether a single repayment or installments)—are handled across no more than three screens.

To reduce choice paralysis, we provide common, selectable options for interest rates and installments.

To empower the user, particularly the borrower, we’ve created a user flow that allows the borrower to propose loan repayment terms, including interest rate, the number of installments, and repayment dates. Additionally, a receipt page clearly outlines the proposed loan terms, including the total cost of repayment, before the loan is requested.

To differentiate the product in the market place we added the ability to leverage installments for loan repayment. The original product description was little more than Venmo spliced together with a calculator for single re-payments for loans and therefore didn't provide a substantial value add for the consumer. The addition of built in installments as a differentiator and value add was a start in overcoming this problem.