CaixaBank - 11:FS Ventures

Helping the Spanish bank refine their roadmap and add value to a core customer segment in the SME banking market
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CaixaBank, Spain’s leading financial group in terms of retail banking and one of the most important in Portugal, had witnessed the SME market shifting in other countries. It anticipated that Spain would soon see a similar wave of disruption.
The challenge

CaixaBank wanted to get ahead of the curve of innovation in its own country by securing the first mover advantage. To do this, it had to define a core SME segment to go after: either small entrepreneurs (known locally as ‘autonomos’) or small businesses (‘pymes’).

Typically, most disruption starts with a focus on entrepreneurs, as they’re easier to KYC and they alone contribute to 18% of Spain’s GDP.

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What we did

The work we did with CaixaBank had a dual purpose: to provide the team with a data-driven perspective as to which sector they could add the most value to, and to reframe their existing strategy.

Over 6 weeks, we ran two key strands of research:

  • Other markets - We helped CaixaBank identify what players in other markets around the world were doing differently, and how their offerings were disrupting the status quo.
  • The local market - We evaluated its competitors in the Spanish market to see how big banks were changing their strategies to deliver more value to consumers.
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US Retail Bank mobile app onboarding screen, dashboard, bills
CaixaBank logo

First, we held a series of face-to-face and remote interviews with a range of people from both target groups. We interviewed businesspeople from a range of industries, which gave us an initial insight into the key needs and pain points for target customers.

“Mystery shopping” branch research, where we visited a number of Spanish banks, helped us to understand the services being offered by competitors.

Then, armed with a list of Jobs to be Done (JTBD), we ran an online quantitative survey with over 500 people using MaxDiff, a statistical trade-off technique. This allowed us to size and rank which JTBD offered the biggest customer opportunity.

Mox payment card
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First, we held a series of face-to-face and remote interviews with a range of people from both target groups. We interviewed businesspeople from a range of industries, which gave us an initial insight into the key needs and pain points for target customers.

“Mystery shopping” branch research, where we visited a number of Spanish banks, helped us to understand the services being offered by competitors.

Then, armed with a list of Jobs to be Done (JTBD), we ran an online quantitative survey with over 500 people using MaxDiff, a statistical trade-off technique. This allowed us to size and rank which JTBD offered the biggest customer opportunity.

Citizens Access logo
Citizens Access logo
Mettle banking app transaction screen examples
Defining a market opportunity matrix

Having combed the competitor landscape, we developed a market opportunity matrix, focusing on four key areas. (Notably, entrepreneurs and small businesses prioritise JTBD differently, so we made sure to factor this into our recommendations.)

Hygiene factors

These are areas where customers already feel they’re well served. Any bank must deliver on these (and to a high standard) in order to stay competitive.

Hygiene factors that were applicable to both entrepreneurs and small businesses included ensuring they’re only doing financial admin that adds real value, and being able to communicate easily with the business’ bank.

Current battlefield

We presented some areas in which competitors are starting to create products and services to satisfy underserved customer needs.

Areas to de-prioritise

We looked to assess whether there were any elements in CaixaBank’s existing roadmap that could be de-prioritised to allow the team to focus on other areas.

Growth opportunity

We established which customer needs are not already being serviced by the market, and how CaixaBank can develop solutions to solve that.

Jobs that were considered important for both groups were connecting with people or businesses who demand their products or services, and always having access to funds when they’re needed.

Strategy phase: a customer-centric proposition

Following the Design phase, 11:FS worked with Citizens Access to define their strategy for the new proposition. This involved working through some rapid concept and user testing sessions to ensure the service design helped the customer overcome the problem identified in the JTBD analysis.

11:FS moderated workshops with the Citizens Access team to define the purpose of the new proposition, its core values and the tone of voice the brand should adopt. The outputs of these workshops were combined with the cultural insights to enrich the Stories to be Told and thus their product marketing and brand strategy.

We tested different ways the brand could pitch the new proposition and arrived at a compelling direction for the Citizens Access team.

Finally, leveraging 11:FS’ vast experience of getting digital banking products to market quickly, the team defined a Minimum Loveable Product (MLP) prototype, roadmap and set of execution principles. This left the Citizens Access team with a clear direction on how to design a new breakthrough proposition and get that into the hands of their customers quickly.

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GrabPay: Southeast Asia’s leading digital wallet

Taking the 11:FS findings and ideas to the core of the offering, Grab set about building the app. In December 2019, it announced the launch of its Grab Pay Mastercard that sits at the core of its super app.

The GrabPay Mastercard is a significant step in Grab Financial’s strategic vision. It is the region’s first numberless card with access to an expanded rewards network and seamless Grab payments integration. It allows users, regardless of whether they have a bank account, to transact securely and easily online or offline, at nearly 53m merchants worldwide that accept Mastercard cards.

As an extension of the GrabPay wallet, it is highly secure with card details stored securely within the Grab app. It also has an in-app lock card function that is PIN-protected, allowing users to instantly suspend payments for lost cards.

Where super app’s go from here is only going to get more interesting. With Singapore and Malaysia both announcing their own Virtual Banking licences, the big tech companies from Asia are well placed to help the most underserved and over charged in ways that traditional banks can’t.

We’re proud to have played a major part in those developments through our collaboration with GrabPay on the launch it’s Mastercard.

Looking to build a bank?

If you like what you see and would like to work with us, we’d love to hear from you.