A psychographic customer profile to improve the banking experience

Banco Sabadell is one of the main banking groups in Spain, and present in more than 20 countries. In 2018, they began operations in Mexico with a different value proposition: a digital-only bank focused on helping people save money for their future.

The company wanted to encourage the habit of savings in a market where there is little to no understanding of the concept, and where customers often seek a new bank just to obtain a new credit line.

As a digital-only bank, Banco Sabadell Mexico has no physical branches and everything, from opening an account to any operation, has to be done through the mobile app. Although creating a banking experience tailored to the digitally savvy was a big opportunity, this also posed a challenge in acquiring new users. It is still customary for people in Mexico to open an account at the most conveniently located branch. This meant that the current onboarding experience had to be understood first, and then be refined and adapted to meet the needs and expectations of this customer.

The initial launch was a success, and a few months later Banco Sabadell experienced a rapid influx of users due to its unique value proposition. But this growth also made it challenging for the bank to identify and categorize the different client profiles.

We focused our approach on understanding the needs and points of view of Mexican banking customers as it relates to concepts such as banking, saving, and investing. We also explored best practices in the local mobile app segment, beyond banking, which would set a benchmark on the expected experience.

To bring the bank’s vision to life, we mapped out the current customer journey by identifying different pain points and magic moments throughout the customer’s experience, from onboarding, to saving, to making transfers.

We conducted several internal conversations with key stakeholders to better understand the vision of the company, as well as some perceived challenges, while acquiring new clients and pushing through their disruptive service offering.

We began our research by profiling existing clients through variables such as money movements in their account, money in the account, age, referrals, and account activity, among other data points. After in-depth interviews, we were able to identify 6 user personas based on psychographic segmentation.

Through our analysis, we gained a deeper understanding of the user experience, which in turn allowed us to map out the current user journey. With that in hand, we were able to highlight all of the pain points and magic moments along the different touch points when interacting with Banco Sabadell.