Plazo APP Design
PLAZO is a Spanish digital banking product combining transactional banking, savings tools, and credit products in a mobile-first experience.
With over 100,000 Mastercard debit cards issued and recent partnerships with platforms like Woowbe to enhance cashback rewards, PLZO is firmly positioned among Spain’s top challenger banks
Problem statement
The product presented several UX and product challenges across banking, credit, rewards, and onboarding:
- Feature Gaps: While PLAZO offers banking and credit functionality, it is missing key market standards like personal IBANs, P2P payments, third-party top-up options (Apple Pay, Google Pay, Bizum), and real-time notifications.
- Limited Customer Engagement: Its rewards and incentive mechanisms are less developed compared to competitors, with emerging opportunities in offer walls, overdraft protection, and insurance services.
- Usability Risks: The complexity of new features like credit and savings tools demands intuitive design to avoid overwhelming users and compromising trust.
- Security & Responsibility: Important user protections, such as device pairing and optional gambling blocks, are currently absent—potentially limiting confidence and social responsibility positioning.
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Date
Ago 2023
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Client Name
Plazo
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Tools
Figma
Research
Key Benchmark Insights & UX Opportunities
To inform product strategy, I conducted a competitive benchmark comparing PLAZO with 15 traditional and challenger banks operating in Spain. The analysis helped identify market standards, feature gaps, and UX opportunities across banking, credit, top-ups, rewards, and security.
Bank Account
- PLAZO is set to reach market parity by enabling personal IBANs and P2P payments.
- Neobanks are increasingly offering tiered subscription models with progressive access to premium features. This presents an opportunity for PLAZO to explore feature-led monetization with clear value differentiation across plans.
Credit
- PLAZO’s credit offering is already highly competitive, comparable to leading traditional banks.
- Evo and Imagin’s “2-in-1” debit + credit approach highlights a trend worth exploring for seamless user experience.
- With competitors like Revolut and Bnext showing signs of entering the credit space, a clear, user-friendly credit interface can be a strong differentiator for PLAZO.
Top-Up Methods
- PLAZO is planning to match market standards by integrating Google Pay and Apple Pay.
- It will lead innovation by enabling top-ups via Bizum, a unique feature among neobanks in Spain.
- Introducing automatic top-up when balances run low would enhance user convenience and reduce cognitive load, especially for financially vulnerable users.
Features
- Cashback through an offer wall is expected soon, in line with current trends.
- Introducing overdraft protection and early payroll access can enhance the credit suite and appeal to users with inconsistent income.
- Round-up savings or debt repayment features would resonate with PLAZO’s current user base, who are in the early stages of financial health.
- Basic insurance offerings (life, health, car, home) could open new revenue streams while adding meaningful value to financially cautious users.
Security
- Real-time transaction notifications will bring PLAZO in line with standard security practices.
- Device pairing (smartphone verification) is widely adopted by top neobanks and can strengthen fraud protection.
- A gambling block feature, inspired by Revolut and N26, would not only support vulnerable users but also position PLAZO as a socially responsible brand.
Research
User flows for Onboarding
Onboarding was a significant friction point. I reviewed the existing flow and its underlying logic to understand where users struggled and identify opportunities for the next app version.
Define
User testing 8 users test
Methdology
- Purpose: Evaluate the usability and clarity of PLAZO’s old and new debit/credit onboarding flows, including payment configuration, benefits understanding, and perceived value.
- Methodology:
- Remote, unmoderated testing via Userlytics.
- Think-aloud protocol to capture natural reactions.
- Participants: 16 employed users in Spain, aged 25–50.
- Prototypes tested: Old and New flows for Debit and Credit journeys.
- Focus areas: User comprehension of features, registration steps, and perceived product value.
Main UX Insights
- Payment confusion: Users didn’t fully understand the difference between debit and credit, or flexible payment options.
- Hidden terms: Conditions and payment rules were hard to find or unclear.
- Unclear value: Cashback and rewards weren’t well communicated early on.
- Too much info: Old flow overwhelmed users with non-essential content.
- Visual trust: Users liked the design but needed more brand reassurance.
- Improved comprehension: New flow improved understanding of product benefits.
- Higher speed perception: Streamlined flow felt faster and more intuitive.
- Better feedback: Visual cues and guidance reduced hesitation during signup.
- Copy still needs polish: Some users requested clearer, simpler text.
- Access before signup: Letting users preview the app boosted engagement.
UI Design
New User flows + UI for Onboarding
- Reduced number of screens to streamline the process and avoid cognitive overload.
- Separated debit and credit flows to prevent confusion between products.
- Improved visual hierarchy for better guidance and focus on key actions.
- Clearer copywriting explaining flexible payments, benefits, and terms.
- Added tooltips and contextual help for conditions and repayment options.
- Enhanced visual feedback (icons, confirmation messages, progress indicators).
- Early visibility of main benefits, including cashback and card types.
- Integrated product previews before full registration to boost engagement.
- Improved form structure with default values and reduced input friction.
- Clarified difference between virtual and physical cards with side-by-side visuals.
Final Results
The redesigned onboarding addressed unclear payment options, overloaded screens, hidden terms, and product-value communication. I simplified the journey, reduced unnecessary complexity, clarified credit concepts, and improved the hierarchy of key actions.
The resulting experience provided a clearer foundation for activation, with stronger comprehension of product benefits and a more focused onboarding journey.