Tessa Davel
Absa ChatWallet
A digital Wallet in WhatsApp to safely store cash and bank where you chat.
AWARDS
Service Design Network, Service Design Award 2024, Professional Commercial: WINNER
Loeries Service Design Award: FINALIST
PRODUCT IN A NUTSHELL
Absa ChatWallet is a digital wallet in WhatsApp that is the new home of Absa CashSend (currently USSD/SMS-based)—an instant way to send and receive money via cellphone number without a bank account.
ChatWallet is aimed at the unbanked and lower markets in South Africa and allows customers to safely store their money in the wallet so they can only withdraw some of their money (and not all is required with the current CashSend process) and buy electricity, airtime, and data straight from their wallet. It’s an innovative move for the bank that aims to improve digital adoption across the board.
CLIENT CHALLENGE
1. Digital adoption is slow.
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2. The bank sending an SMS with a withdrawal code to a customer every time they do a CashSend is costly.
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3. Changing customer behaviour can be tricky and people don’t naturally gravitate towards the unknown (digital products).​
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4. “Bank speak” and jargon used internally has crept into external comms and customers don’t understand new products and how they work as they’re not being explained in simple terms.
RESEARCH & INSIGHTS
The current way of sending a CashSend is very manual, but customers are familiar with the process and are reluctant to adopt a digital wallet because they feel:
1. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”.
2. It’s in WhatsApp, a social media platform owned by Meta, so how do we keep their money safe?
3. Will the CashSends expire or be sent back to the receiver if they don’t use the money within a certain amount of days?
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4. When they receive a CashSend they want to be able to withdraw their money straight away, they don’t want to register for something (the wallet) first.
5. What if they don’t have data or Wi-Fi to access WhatsApp?
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6. Customers with WhatsApp automatically get a WhatsApp message the next time they receive a CashSend (and not an SMS). They were overwhelmed by the amount of information on the initial onboarding screen.
A homemade ATM that we used during user testing to see how users withdraw from their ChatWallet.
THE SOLUTION
Customers were more receptive to “receiving a random WhatsApp” once we’d more successfully chunked the information and explained the security measures used to keep their money safe in their wallet (IDnV and facial biometrics through Absa’s platform and not just Meta).
Customers can still see the information they need in WhatsApp if they’ve previously opened the message, but we are also looking into zero-rating WhatsApp around Absa ATMs or providing geolocated secure Wi-Fi.
ChatWallet adoption rates have been steadily climbing since its launch and continue to grow month on month.
MY ROLE
Over 14 months, in my role as Lead UX Writer on the project, I conducted user research and usability testing, held workshops to rename the product and to socialise the product with the wider business, was part of the design-thinking, and rewrote screens multiple times based on new customer insights as well as business needs. I also created a WhatsApp style and tone of voice guide to help other writers in the bank write for a non-traditional banking platform, as ChatWallet was the first product launched in WhatsApp. I based the guide on learnings from dealing with the third-party company in communication with Meta and best practices for social media writing as a whole.​​
Team: Design Director, Design Project Lead, UX Designer, UI Designer, Process Engineer, Service-Delivery Designer, Scrum Master, Product Manager, Business Analyst.