Transitioning Banco General’s fixed-term deposit renewals to digital
Timeline
March 2024- October 2024
Role
Lead Designer
What I did
Research, Design
I worked on designing a digital renewal process for Banco General’s fixed-term deposits. Our goal was to create a user-friendly digital experience while respecting the long-standing manual processes that many clients had relied on, ensuring a smooth transition for all users.
Setting the scene
Banco General, Panama's most important private bank, had always contacted clients directly to handle their fixed-term deposit renewals. This manual process worked well but required significant time and resources. After developing a digital flow for opening fixed-term deposits, it became clear that digitizing the renewal process was the next logical step to improve efficiency and align with the bank’s growing digital presence.
The challenge
While we aimed to build on the success of the fixed-term deposit opening flow, we had to consider the long-established manual processes that many clients, especially older ones, were accustomed to. For years, clients had relied on phone calls from the bank reminding them of upcoming renewals. Our challenge was to design a digital renewal solution that could coexist with the manual approach while pushing toward a fully automated experience.
Adding to the complexity, the bank wanted to phase out the manual process quickly. This created urgency in developing a smooth transition that didn’t alienate long-term clients. Coordinating with more stakeholders across departments added dependencies, making alignment trickier and raising the stakes for success.
Research
My approach to researching the renewal process was pretty much in line with the groundwork I did during the fixed-term deposit opening project. I already had a solid grip on our fixed-term deposit clients, thanks to the data and insights we gathered about their behaviors. Plus, we had some valuable info from the opening process, like where users tended to drop off in the flow and the profiles of customers who opted for the digital opening.
With this strong foundation, I focused my research specifically on our renewal clients. I made sure to request and analyze relevant data, and I scheduled interviews with a variety of customers. I spoke with clients who had lots of renewal experience, some who had renewed just once or twice, and some who hadn’t renewed at all.
Through this research, a few key insights really stood out:
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First off, we discovered that the bank actually sees nearly double the number of renewals compared to new openings each year! That really drove home the need for a smooth renewal experience.
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It also became clear that clients are more likely to renew their fixed-term deposits if they don’t need immediate access to their cash. This tied back to a previous insight from the opening process: people are hesitant to commit if they’re unsure about their financial needs.
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Past positive experiences with renewals played a big role in their decision-making, too.
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And, of course, interest rates were a significant factor in their choices.
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One consistent theme we heard was that clients loved being reminded of their fixed-term deposit maturity dates and really appreciated those personal phone calls from the bank.
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The phone renewal process was straightforward and quick for our clients, allowing them to provide their instructions with minimal information—often just over the phone or via a simple email.
It became clear that maintaining the manual process was crucial, especially since many customers were comfortable with it. We had to find a way for the manual process to coexist with the digital flow, ensuring that the eventual transition to a fully digi|tal experience would be as smooth as possible.
Finding common ground
Once we wrapped up our research, we crafted a proposal that closely resembled our successful opening process, which we then put to the test with clients. The feedback we got was fantastic—clients found the new renewal flow easy and quick to navigate. This gave us a solid starting point.
We saw clear opportunities to improve how clients entered the renewal flow by adding access through the app's "Requests" menu and increasing engagement with in-app notifications and email reminders. This approach, combined with support from our digital sales team, ensured clients were always aware when it was time to renew.
Another key discussion was around timing. While clients preferred starting the renewal 30 days in advance, stakeholders suggested just one week. We compromised on 15 days, with our call team following up with those who hadn’t engaged digitally. This approach felt like a win-win, allowing the manual and digital processes to coexist smoothly while giving clients a transparent option to cancel their deposits, which was crucial since stakeholders were initially clear about not wanting cancellation options in the app.
When we shared this proposal during our debrief before the inception meeting, everyone seemed to be on the same page. However, right after the inception, the business team threw us a curveball with some major changes that hadn’t been discussed before, including adding cancellation options to the flow. While most of these requests ended up outside the MVP, they sparked a lot of confusion, misunderstandings, and tension among the team and stakeholders.
We were scratching our heads, wondering why priorities had suddenly shifted and why these changes hadn’t been flagged with the tech team earlier. After voicing our concerns and digging a little deeper, we found out that the business team wanted to skip the transition between the manual and digital processes altogether—they aimed to eliminate the call department completely. Given the situation, we really believed it was crucial to give clients time to get used to the digital flow, but unfortunately, our recommendations didn’t carry much weight then.
So, we recognized that we needed to act fast and add a cancellation option to the app.
Adapting to constraints
When the need for a cancellation option came up, we had to work within some pretty tight constraints. We couldn’t just rethink the entire flow—there wasn’t enough time, and our scope was limited. The cancellation feature had to fit within the existing framework.
So, given these technical limitations, we made transparency the top priority. We made sure users knew, even before they entered the flow, that they could cancel their fixed-term deposit as part of the renewal process. This was a non-negotiable point for us, though the business team pushed back, arguing that we shouldn't "promote" cancellation too much. It was tough, but I had to stand firm and explain that we couldn’t compromise on transparency—dark patterns simply weren’t an option. We needed to be upfront, especially since deposits would automatically renew under the same conditions if no action was taken, as outlined in the contract.
After some tough conversations, we reached a compromise. By tweaking some copy and adding three extra screens to set expectations for both options —what would happen if they renewed or canceled through the app— we managed to fit the cancellation option into the MVP. These changes, along with a new screen allowing clients to decide whether to capitalize their previous term’s interest, were the biggest adjustments to the renewal flow compared to the opening flow, all while maintaining the simplicity and ease of use we aimed for.
Key takeaways
In the end, we launched a transparent renewal flow that met both client and stakeholder expectations. And thanks to some persistence, the business decided—just before launch—that they would continue calling clients who didn’t engage with the digital flow.
This project was much more turbulent than the fixed-term deposit setup. Our biggest challenge was definitely the lack of communication and coordination from the business team, which impacted both our workflow and the expectations of key stakeholders.
If I had the chance to do it all over again, I would take the time to include the business team in our research—inviting them to interviews with executives and clients, for instance—so they could see firsthand the pressing need not to eliminate the manual process completely and develop a greater sense of empathy. Key stakeholders would benefit from being included earlier, too. Presenting everything at the end may have left them feeling sidelined and as if decisions were being made without their input. Engaging them sooner could have aligned expectations and avoided some of the friction we experienced.
Moving forward, our goal should be to foster empathy—not just with our clients, but also among the different areas within the bank. Promoting this understanding would help everyone grasp the reasons behind our design choices and recognize their impact on the client experience. Ultimately, I believe that understanding the full picture would lead to better collaboration and, in turn, a stronger product.