Fintech UX Teardown: How Revolut Won 180K Users in 90 Days by Banking on Trustworthiness

To outcompete traditional banks with large customer bases, fintech startups need a product with an engaging UX and a well-designed UI to acquire users and build a loyal customer base.

That said, if you’ve tried designing an intuitive fintech product, you’d know that it is easier said than done.

As it turns out, we’ve worked with some great companies and startups in the financial world – our clients include Visa, Citibank, and WeInvest. So what we’re about to do is reveal and apply some of the tactics and strategies they’ve employed in helping them to amass millions of users.

In this three-part #FintechUXTalk series, we’ll be doing a user interface and user experience teardown three well-known products in the global fintech scene: Revolut, Mint, and Transferwise.

First up, we’ll have a look at four trust-building strategies used by London-based digital banking alternative Revolut. These tactics helped them to win them over their first 180,000 customers in only three months.

1. Make users go Wow! 😍

Without a doubt, the homepage or landing page is by far one of the most critical touch points when thinking about user acquisition. You’ve mere seconds to impress – eight, to be exact – and persuade your audience to stay a little longer on your site.

Revolut has succeeded in making a lasting first impression in four ways:

It looks good and feels good!

When you land on Revolut’s homepage, you’re struck by a sleek and modern aesthetic that’s pleasing to the eyes. The landing page’s minimalist design also makes it feel professional and trustworthy. Have a look at how a traditional bank’s landing page looks alongside theirs:

The colors matter, too. There are 2 main colours used by Revolut in their overall design: blue and magenta. In color psychology, magenta suggests innovation and creativity, while blue is often used to heighten the sense of security, which explains why many financial institutions use shades of blue in their branding.

(Fun fact: blue isn’t the only dominant color with financial businesses in Asia; the color ‘red’ signifies prosperity, so it’s also very commonly used)

These two colors are a great combination to convey that, while Revolut is innovative and revolutionary (you knew that pun was coming), it’s also a professional and credible entity you can trust to handle your cash.

Their unique selling p is everywhere: An intuitive, polished app experience

Revolut’s landing page sells you the benefits of the app in concrete numbers, which traditional banks tend not to do (think images of happy families). With animations and screengrabs of their app interface, they have put their money where their mouth is by showing you proof of their superior user experience.

Make the reader say YES!

Apart from an eye-catching design, Revolut catches the user’s attention with their tag line: Better than your bank account. You can’t help but want to read on and find out how they’re better than a traditional bank.

Instead of the usual bank transaction fees, you’ll incur from foreign currency exchanges, Revolut makes it free. With the app and credit card, you can get free international money transfers, free global ATM withdrawals, and free money exchange in 25 countries. Perfect for our team of digital nomads! #NotAnAd

Pay attention to the small details

Animations Revolut added on their site. Image from Dribble.

From the animations on their website, it’s clear that Revolut paid close attention to the details, which gives a professional touch and appeals to the sophisticated tech-savvy travelers and business executives they’re targeting.

2. Stand on the shoulders of giants

We’re Legit: Founders’ Faces, Press Logos, Investors

Since Revolut is handling their money, it’s not surprising that users would want to understand more about the company before signing up.

Revolut uses multiple strategies to demonstrate their reliability. On the “About” page, the company includes trust signals from third parties such as press coverage (The Guardian, CNBC, and The Times) and the investors who’ve backed them (Point Nine VC and Index Ventures.).

Photos of the founders on the site also help to build trust, and signal to the user that Revolut is a reputable business.

Social Proof: Customer’s Faces & Testimonials, Map of Transactions

Revolut has included a real-time map of transactions taking place on their app. As you see the animated pop up of transactions happening in different parts of the world, you’d naturally get the feeling that others are using Revolut, live.

The fintech startup has also inserted their customers’ faces and testimonials on their landing page. And not just any customer – most of them are influencers. On Revolut’s homepage, you’d find a testimonial from Pieter Levels, a key figure in the Digital Nomad community who’s also a serial maker, and has founded awesome sites like Nomad List, Remote Ok, and Hood Maps.
 

3. Make the experience buttery smooth

The lesser effort for the user, the better

After selling their unique selling points of low foreign exchange transaction fees and good exchange rates, Revolut makes it easy for a new user to get through the onboarding process of the mobile app.

A typical app download process from website to mobile app is as such:
“Download our app” > User goes to phone > Goes to app store > Searches > Taps on result > Hits download > App downloads > Open App

Steps: 8; Opportunities to be interrupted: 7

On Revolut, this is what happens:
“Enter your number” > User receives SMS > Open and click link > App downloads > Open App

Steps: 5; Opportunities to be interrupted: 4

With fewer steps involved, a new user is less likely to drop out of Revolut’s app download process.

Give them what they want

On top of the UI, Revolut prizes itself on a “frictionless experience from user sign up to currency exchange and money transfers.” In fact, it won the UX UK Award in 2016 for the Best Transactional Experience.

Image from Revolut.

The example above is telling of how easy the user can transfer money with a few taps of the button. A smooth experience like this gives the user a feeling that it’s a good and credible product.

4. Tell users what they need to know #showmethemoney

The final way Revolut creates a sense of transparency is through its upfront disclosure about the sign up fees, the charges for using the card, and other policies.

On the pricing page, Revolut clearly states the difference between the free and premium plans, and what the prices are per month.

Everything is clear, and there are no hidden fees which is something traditional banks do and always create instant distrust and the feeling of uncertainty.

Also, when it comes to exchange rates – an area where there’s usually a lack of transparency from traditional banks – users can check the rates before making a payment or withdrawal with the app. This makes it fair for consumers and highlights that the business has the consumers’ interests in mind.

We tried an experiment and got five people looking for the price of a credit card on a bank’s website, which is 50% longer than looking for the price of the premium subscription on Revolut’s website.

Lastly, Revolut has a long list of FAQs detailing everything from getting started to the usage of the different features on the app. This makes it clear to the user on what to expect from the product before signing up.

Take a step back: why would you trust a fintech company?

Put yourself in the shoes of the user:

Think about the times when you’ve trusted a newly established business and gave them your credit card information. What key components of the user experience made you feel that the company would deliver on their promise?

As we leave you to ponder on this question, we hope that we’ve given you actionable insights into how Revolut used four key UX/UI strategies to acquire a strong user base.

As always, tweet us, and share this article with your friends if you’ve found it useful!

Join our newsletter and stay tuned for the second part of this three-part series where we will cover personal finance app Mint, and how they created a user-friendly personal finance application for over 10 million users.