Trust Bank redefines analytics with fun animated characters

Trust Bank is changing the way customers track their monthly spending with the introduction of a new Money Insights feature on its Trust app. The new feature uses animated characters to represent spending categories and will grow and expand alongside a user's spending on their Trust card. Termed "funalytics", the feature was created following studies by the bank's customer research team which looked into the usage of bars and pie charts on banking apps to help customers track their spending. 

According to the bank, the research indicated that users tended to find these charts unhelpful despite efforts to make them as detailed as possible. Additionally, because most Singaporean consumers have more than just one bank card, spend insights from just one card is not sufficient to give a user a full picture of their finances. 

Don't miss: 101 on the Silicon Valley Bank crisis: The poor role comms played in the collapse

The customer research team also noted in its research was that users enjoyed the fun aspects of these insights that made the data relatable to themselves. Consumers also indicated that they value a feature that would encourage them to return to play with it. 

Building on that, Trust Bank decided to develop its own feature to deliver insights to its customers in a useful and fun way. Starting with a basic bar chart, the team, then worked upwards to figure out how to make it more fun and interactive. 

Drawing inspiration from the beloved Tamagotchi digital pets of the 1990s, the team decided to incorporate animated characters that would grow as one spends. The bars now had faces and moved on the screen. Titled the Budget Buddies, the team then went on to ensure that its characters glided across the screen with perfect speed and precision.  Focusing on little details such as how the characters popped off-screen before reappearing when users select a month made all the difference when it came to the user experience which has since been extremely positive. 

“We had a lot of fun building this feature and it’s been even more fun seeing our customers use it. This is just our minimal viable product for this feature, and we are excited to develop this further based on the feedback we receive from our customers,” said Michal Bialer, the chief product officer at Trust Bank.

According to the bank, over 30,000 consumers user the feature in the first few days of its launch and saw people engaging with the new insights in a more tangible and useful way.   

The bank is currently cofounded by Standard Chartered Bank and FairPrice Group and launched in September last year through a marketing blitz. According to the company, the name Trust was created based on extensive user testing in Singapore. Users felt strongly that the name Trust reflects what they want from their bank. It also reflects the values with which the brand has built based on the support of Standard Chartered Bank, NTUC Enterprise, and FairPrice Group. The “us” in “Trust” also represents how the brand aims to be a bank for all in Singapore.

Related articles:
Sea Group unveils by invite-only digibank offering Maribank
SG digital-first Trust Bank goes on massive launch marketing blitz
HSBC acquires Silicon Valley Bank's UK arm for £1