Bina Artha’s mission is to fight poverty by providing micro-financing services in Indonesia. Their mobile app allows underprivileged women living in distant rural areas of the country to apply for loans and track their repayment progress online on a simple, playful interface.
Access to financial services, such as development loans, are a major stepping stone for creating opportunities for social upliftment.
Our client Bina Artha utilises the Nobel Prize-winning Grameen Group Lending Model that lets low-income, disadvantaged women boost their family enterprises with accessible, affordable loans that are tailored to their needs.
But reaching people in distant rural villages to offer them financial services can become quite a challenge in a country that consists of more than 17,000 islands. So, that’s where Supercharge – and digital technology – enters the picture!
Bina Artha’s target customers are micro and small enterprises located in rural Indonesia. Many of them are women running small family businesses who earn a living by selling home-made goods or operating their own restaurants. While their financial status does not allow them to access loan services at large monetary institutions, Bina Artha provides them with an opportunity to get micro-loans to expand their businesses.
Unlike users of a typical financial app, our target customers here have low financial literacy and are also less tech-savvy.
Parents often share a single mobile phone with their kids, and handling their finances via a mobile app is definitely something they are not used to doing.
If you have ever applied for a loan online, you probably know that the application process is a notoriously complicated one – even for financial pros! Not to mention the level of trust required from customers to overcome negative stereotypes brought about by less benevolent lending companies…
So, how can we make this process so simple and effortless that our target customers will successfully manage the application? How can we convince them to trust our client and regard them as a helpful partner in taking their business forward?
First of all, we wanted our customers to feel that they could safely trust Bina Artha. Therefore, we made emotional design into the core of our concept. We created a loveable mascot: a cute elephant who narrates the entire loan application process and helps build a connection with the user.
Unlike the typical frustrating experience of applying for a loan, our flow almost feels like a fun conversation with a supportive, financially smart elephant who helps you submit your loan request quickly and effortlessly.
The playful interface provides both financial education and friendly encouragement at the right moments, so customers will feel that all their questions and concerns are sorted out even before they arise.
In terms of language, our aim was to use simple expressions that our users will all understand and get rid of the financial jargon wherever possible. Besides written cues, we included visual charts and explanatory icons to help them intuitively grasp the meaning of some more complex financial concepts.
Customers can not only apply for credit to carry out their personal goals, but the app also makes sure that once they receive the loan, they know exactly when and what amount to pay back. This feature allows them to prepare in time to keep up with their instalment schedule and establish a fruitful financial relationship with Bina Artha for their future projects.
All of our solutions have been carefully researched and tested during the entire design process until we felt we had a neat, smart, polished system that would be able to bridge any sociocultural differences or knowledge gaps between our client and their target audience.
The Bina Artha application opens the door for tens of thousands of underprivileged women across Indonesia. Even those living in the most distant areas can now access micro-loans and become a productive part of the economic circulation. By taking out loans they can get ahead in life, expand their business, buy new equipment or solve long-standing issues of proper sanitation and healthy living conditions for their families. The Supercharge team is proud to take part in such an initiative that has a direct impact on social mobility and makes female empowerment into a reality.
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