According to a report by the Federal Reserve, 14.1% of U.S. households were underbanked in 2021—representing approximately 18.7 million households. This means they have some form of bank account, but often lack access to many other traditional financial resources.
Understanding how your financial products can be better adapted to meet the unique needs of this group is a critical step in creating experiences that work for all users.
A financial services client asked us:
How can we eliminate harmful experiences and foster inclusive services for vulnerable populations when accessing financial and P2P products?
Our client wanted to learn about participants’ financial backgrounds and goals, as well their experiences with online financial services and digital payments. Additionally, they wanted to understand where opportunities existed to eliminate harmful experiences for underserved and underbanked populations.
We answered:
AnswerLab conducted remote, individual in-depth interviews with participants from across the US, as well as international markets. Our Research Ops team needed to recruit a mix of sub-audience participants with varying levels of nuance and specificity: users who did not already have an account, spoke English as a second language, or had a lower household income, as well as users with visual, auditory, or learning disabilities. These kinds of users are not typically found in traditional panels and often require a more complex and intentional approach to recruiting.
In order to recruit these harder-to-find target populations, AnswerLab dedicated multiple recruiters to finding these various subgroups in order to provide our client valuable qualitative insights.
During the study, AnswerLab moderators facilitated multiple product interactions related to their financial experiences:
- Sign up flows
- Making P2P payments
- Withdrawals
- Online transfers
- Contacting customer service
- And more…
Outcome:
Our research identified areas where the website design could be improved for better usability with assistive technologies and screen readers. Employing features like alternate text solutions, sensitivity changes, magnification features, and color treatments could help foster a more inclusive experience. We also identified financial goals and perceived barriers for these populations.
AnswerLab UX researchers delivered insights and recommendations:
- Identified improvements needed to make sign-up and sign-in processes more accessible for users with disabilities
- Discovered deep insights into how participants with inconsistent income utilize financial products and services
- Determined ways to help vulnerable and underbanked populations remedy problems and readily find customer services solutions
Ultimately, UX research helped our client better understand where opportunities existed to create inclusive experiences for all users, while also maximizing utility for future product updates.
Learn how AnswerLab’s dedicated financial services team can deliver valuable UX insights and help you uncover new opportunities.
