To build an effective digital service, the product team considers business goals, revenue sources, user needs and preferences, and the level of competition in the local market. But becoming a digital leader demands a broader perspective, aligning with global standards and drawing inspiration from top digital services worldwide. A year ago, this approach became necessary for one of our recurring clients - one of the largest banks in Eastern Europe - when developing a sales strategy for their mobile app aimed at individual clients.
The client seeks to drive product sales by implementing effective sales tools in the mobile bank, taking cues from international market leaders that offer top-tier digital experiences.
While the bank's internal research team wasn't optimized for rapid solutions in this area, Markswebb’s scout team specializes in precisely this purpose. With agents across various regions, we gain access to international services, providing insights into processes and interfaces from the inside. Our knowledge base includes foundational analytics to offer high-level understanding. We are ready to assist you in finding interface solutions within global fintech – just reach out to us.
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Our task was to locate and thoroughly examine sales mechanics and processes for various banking products in international markets. Based on this research, the client’s mobile app team reviewed over 120 digital solutions that introduced a new customer experience for product enrollment or effectively encouraged it.
Our role was to guide top management in forming a sales strategy for the mobile bank, while equipping the service team with practical solutions and recommendations to expedite implementation.
The study encompassed 11 banks from 8 countries:
Banks were selected based on a broad product range, including traditional banks and mature neobanks with an audience exceeding 1 million clients.
A mystery shopper approach was used, examining two customer profiles in each bank to identify personalized product sales approaches:
Scope of Research: The focus was on customer journeys within the mobile app for product sign-ups and cross-sales, including:
The project produced a comprehensive database of sales tools, with actionable insights into where promising solutions are concentrated, which practices are most common, and which ones are likely to catch users’ attention locally.
Through this research, the bank's top management gained insights into how sales processes are structured in international mobile banks, the number of tools they use, and whether there were tools not yet utilized in their own bank.
Popular international digital banks generally feature fewer products on their app's main page, focusing on alternate sections for sales placements. This differs from local practices, where many banks place up to four sales tools on the main screen. For example, local banks often feature products through multiple tools on the main screen.
For product teams, this case provides descriptions and interfaces of over 120 sales mechanics. The final report, structured by product type, shows all communication points for each product, with comparative tables that enable quick navigation of data to see which mobile banks employ specific sales mechanisms.
The case study also illustrates how foreign banks sell and manage savings accounts within their apps. Examples include:
Vibrant animated stories encourage users to open an account by highlighting the product’s benefits, situations where it’s useful, and key saving mechanisms.
The product is available in the Hub section (product showcase) under the “Wealth” block → Motivational slides on the importance of saving → Animated stories with product information → Name your savings pot (with suggestions) → Set a target amount and timeframe → Choose a top-up method: rounding up expenses / recurring payments → Specify the amount and frequency of deposits → Success
The account can be customized — users can add a goal name and photo, which helps visualize the objective and can serve as an additional motivation for active saving.
Advanced settings and saving mechanisms broaden the scenarios in which the account can be used, further encouraging users to increase transactional activity.
A personal savings pot can be turned into a group pot — to do this, select “Invite friends” in the settings and choose a contact from the list or create a new one.
Only Revolut users can be invited. During the setup, users can adjust “friend” permissions — either deposits only or both deposits and withdrawals.
This feature expands the ways users can interact with the pot, potentially increasing transactional activity by involving new users.
All deposits and savings accounts are located in a separate section → The “Open Jar” banner leads to the product setup → Choose currency, name, and savings amount → Success
Explanation for the “i” icon on the screen: Users receive clear information about savings products, their benefits, and scenarios in which they are useful.
In the settings, users can change the name, amount, add a picture and description, withdraw part of the funds, or close the account (“Break the Jar”). In addition to the goal name and photo, monobank features a unique visualization of saved funds as coins in a jar.
The savings pot can be topped up manually from a monobank card, set up for automatic savings, shared with another bank client for joint savings, or sent as a payment link to anyone. In the latter case, the recipient completes the payment via the monobank website using the card details provided. This approach allows monobank to attract clients from other banks as well.
Automatic savings options include rounding up the card balance, rounding up expenses, saving a percentage of spending, or regular payments.
The rates and benefits of the savings account as a product are also available in the “Terms and Conditions” section, presented by an animated cat. However, this section does not allow users to proceed directly to the account setup process.
N26 dedicates a separate section called “Spaces” for creating and managing savings accounts, joint accounts, and shared bill payments. This is a distinct area from the main account, designed specifically for managing finances.
In the “Spaces” section, the client sees a window to select a “space”; in the Standard plan, only two savings pots are available → Set up a pot: name and image → Define savings goal and timeframe → Option to top up immediately from another pot or the main account → The new pot appears in the “Spaces” section.
In the settings of an open pot, users can modify the goal and set savings methods. They can also change the name and image, hide the balance, block transfers to the main account or another pot, request a balance report, or delete the pot. Adding participants is only available with an upgraded plan.
Barclays takes an unconventional approach to promoting its products. In addition to the standard showcase, there’s a “Moments” section in the app, where users can find tips and advice for various life situations.
Each scenario includes specific stages. For example, in the case of buying a car, users have two options – “planning to buy” and “already bought.” Each option offers suggestions and guidance for reaching the goal. For those planning a purchase, options include loans, deposits, and savings accounts, while for those who already own a car, insurance and roadside assistance are available.
Barclays offers four types of savings accounts:
Detailed information on the terms and benefits of the savings account → The account can be opened through the Video Banking app or at a branch → Within the app, users can manage the account, apply for opening, access a section with advice, and contact support.
Markswebb's scout team validates or refines hypotheses on where valuable and innovative solutions are concentrated for a specific topic. These can span finance, e-commerce, telecommunications - there are no industry restrictions.
A ready-made solution database for inspiration and idea generation saves teams time. These references speed up the workflow: teams can quickly frame decision-making foundations, recognize breakthrough implementations, common challenges, and validate or refute their hypotheses.
For team leaders, this brings a new level of expertise: the ability to readily use facts about how global digital leaders evolve and apply these insights when shaping strategy and setting objectives for their service.
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Every year we conduct up to 15 studies of digital services. These are industry benchmarks that reflect the state of the market and trends.
