POS lending is a highly sought-after service in Kazakhstan. For consumers, it provides the opportunity to obtain financing for purchases directly in the store. For merchants, it helps increase sales, and for banks, it serves as a channel to attract new clients and boost cross-sales. Banks in Kazakhstan see this as a competitive advantage and strive to create the best possible digital experience for both buyers and sellers.
In 2021, one of the leading banks in Kazakhstan aimed for full digitalization of its POS lending service: the new service was intended to be more accessible to bank clients and to eliminate the need for interaction with loan managers. To create such a product, it was necessary to study all the best solutions on the market and correctly prioritize development.
Markswebb was invited for this task. We compiled a list of scenarios necessary for merchants to fully manage the products and tried to find successful implementation practices in both the Kazakhstani and international markets. However, it quickly became apparent that only one bank in Kazakhstan offered a similar product.
As a result, the new service had to be designed based on the analysis of practices from the sole competitor and insights from tasks that had not yet transitioned to digital channels. We developed a set of recommendations for 22 key user tasks, helped improve the service interface, and prepared it for launch.
"Our bank ranks in the top 3 Kazakhstani banks by active client base. Studying our clients' needs, we found that the primary goal for businesses is sales growth. This is a broad objective, and we understood that to cover our clients' needs fully, we needed to consider many nuances. Markswebb helped us delve deeper into our clients' needs - they showed us references for using installment products in Kazakhstani banks. This gave us insight into how to create the best service, optimize the merchant's path, handle returns, assign cashier and manager permissions, and much more."
Damir Kakiev,
Managing Director of the Mass Business Unit at the bank
A crucial source of insights for the product was the direct comparison with competitor practices in the Kazakhstani market. This comparison helped prioritize functions so that the product would not only meet the needs of entrepreneurs at launch but also create new opportunities and value in the service. Priorities were distributed as follows: the first release should focus on a quality onboarding experience, while subsequent releases should introduce analytical tools and additional functions to enhance product management.
In designing additional functions, the bank aimed to surpass the existing market experience. Notable examples include a sales history feature, contextual tips within the interface, and the ability to freely add cashiers to a point of sale.
These are just a few of the insights on designing and developing key functions for POS lending in the digital channel that the bank's team received from Markswebb researchers. All communications with the product team and the transfer of insights occurred remotely, with most recommendations emerging during joint sessions on prototype studies.
The service was launched in the market in the summer of 2021. Markswebb's insights formed the basis of the digitalization strategy for the new product. Focusing on digital onboarding helped the team reduce user onboarding time from 8 days to 10 minutes. Extensive work is currently underway on the product's functionality, with plans to add new points of sale, returns, analytics, and more in the near future.
"Today, no one is surprised by basic services or the connection of additional bank products. The competitive advantage will be with those who provide the best UX and meet the niche needs of clients for financial and non-financial services necessary for running and growing their business."
Damir Kakiev,
Managing Director of Mass Business
Thanks to a well-designed digital experience, the bank's POS lending service in Kazakhstan has shown impressive results. It grew by 3000% per month in terms of connected merchants, 900% in the total base of sellers. The number of issued installment plans per month increased by 540%, the portfolio volume over 9 months grew by 1050%, and transactional income amounted to over 400 million tenge.
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