Summary

A fintech startup I founded and built up with a team of four other entrepreneurial colleagues. This startup was commissioned by ING Global, as they facilitated an incubator. The ask came from a societal challenge: statistics show that the amount of financial debt amongst millennials in Europe is rapidly increasing - whereas ING aims for a financially healthy generation. Fince is a mobile-first financial buddy (A.I driven) that communicates on specific moments in time and locations to help you unspent on unneeded purchases in order to achieve your favourite lifestyle, while still avoiding debt. The A.I algorithm uses the unique combination of financial-, social-, and big data to be of personal value and was focused on Travel seekers as our early adopters when delivering the MVP.

Customer development

• Deskresearch;
• 13 in-depth interviews;
• Surveys;
• Persona's;
• Value proposition canvas;
• Wireframes;
• UI Design;
• MVP built;
• Running pilot.

Problem statement

There is a large segment of people that spend more money than they have when it comes to their passion. At the same they don’t enjoy being involved in their finances as an extra boring and sometimes complex task. This while statistics show that the amount of financial debt amongst millennials in Europe is increasing.

13 interviews

As per usual, I simply started talking to people within this segment (semi-structured approach). The first insights however weren't satifsying at all. It just appeared that people were doing good in terms of finance and most having a very clear overview of their budgets and financial ambitions. When synthesizing, I just couldn’t make sense of it compared to the problematic statistics. I gave myself some time contemplating and chose for a new approach.

• 'When it comes to a personal passion, the emotional reasoning starts goes up and rational thinking goes down.'

During the second round of interviews, I went without any (financial) topics at hand, just having conversations on a personal level. Showing mere interest in the participants, their hobbies, passions, lifestyle and just things they consider energy gainers in general. And there it was.. that sweet 'AHA moment'! I discovered a pattern in the answers given: most millenials are indeed rational thinkers, until it comes to a specific personal passion (e.g. travel, photography, motorcycling, shopping). When it comes to such a personal passion, the emotional reasoning starts goes up and rational thinking goes down. This happens uknowingly!

Survey

With this key insight I compiled a survey to quantify the findings:

• - 70% of the people states that it is true that when it comes from their passion they care less (26 to 35 of age).
• - 28% mentioned that they use a credit card to deal with challenges in budgeting when they really want to buy that specific product or experience.
• - 50% mentioned that it is traveling that is their main passion, spending more and more each year.
• - 75% of the people do feel the need to save every month but the urge to purchase is stronger.

Pains

• 🙁 - No rational assessment on their own financial situation prior to the purchase.
• 🙁 - Lying to themselves in the short run and finding out later in the long run.
• 🙁 - Financial advice already available is just too generic:'they don't know me like I know me..’
• 🙁 - The inner circle (e.g. friends, family) also convinces this segment to make certain purchases.
• 🙁 - Managing personal finances can be a very time consuming and boring process which leads to postponing.

Gains & Goals

• 😀 - Making financial planning engaging with a postive perspective
• 😀 - Building a spending buffer for a main passion

• 🎯 - I want to experience the value of my money
• 🎯 - I want to experience the latest and greatest when it comes to my passion
• 🎯 - I want to purchase things that are part of my personal story

The proposition

Fince is a financial buddy that communicates on specific moments in time and location to help you unspent on unneeded purchases in order to achieve your favourite lifestyle The Fince A.I uses the unique combination of financial-, social-, and big data to be of personal value and was focused on Travel seekers as our early adopters when delivering the MVP.

Userflow

• 1. Push: Social media Ads to communicate App (effective targeting)
• 2. Pull: User onboarding:
  2.1. Choose your scope (e.g. traveling)
  2.2. Set your goals (plotted on a timeline)
  2.3. User permission for push communication and PSD2
• 3. Push: Conversational notification when your timeline is affected
• 4. Pull: Actionable insights in-App

I strive to continiously write case studies, but unfortunately the Fince project hasn't been fully compiled yet. I'm always happy to share the process and output over a (virtual) coffee. Feel free to reach out: ask@thecreativeguy.nl or +31681924260.