A Payment gateway and biller portal
A Payment gateway and biller portal
Business Goals and User need
The business goal was to create a portal where different payment methods could be utilized for everyday users and customers of the organizations.
We identified through the Customer Experience Team talking to customers that users needed a solution that was quite simple and intuitive to use.
One of the issues we discovered is that some of the codes generated previously or on competitors' pages were not easy to read so it took time for customers to type those codes if need be.
The Team:
- UX Product designer
- Product owner
- Product manager
- Customer Experience
- Enterprise Architect
- Project manager
- Business Analyst
- Backend developer
- Frontend developer
- Quality Assurance Tester
- Application manager
My roles:
- UX Product Designer
- Frontend UI Scripting (HTML, CSS, JS)
Project Breakdown:
After research, we identified another goal which involved inclusion. In order to make this usable by other users as well, we ideated of different methods that would work for customers in this environment.
In 2020, Nigeria's population was estimated to amount to 206 million individuals according to statista.com
Also we discovered that there were 169.2 million mobile connections in Nigeria in January 2020 which was equivalent to 83% of the total population. Out of this, there were 85.49 million internet users in Nigeria in January 2020 which was 42% of the population and this number of internet users increased by 2.2 million (+2.6%) between 2019 and 2020 meaning that there was potential in the number of internet users to come. This was gotten from Digital 2020: Nigeria — DataReportal – Global Digital Insights
Solution - USSD
Going by the above data, it was clear that the solution had to have options for those that did not have internet connections but had mobile phones. Also we made it a web platform taking into account that users make use of public internet cafes to carry out some of these transactions especially those that did not have access to a PC or home internet service.
That was how we ideated into having the options of USSD which works on any mobile GSM phone without the need for internet access.
The payment code for the USSD was made to be so simple using just six random numbers which housed the amount to be paid, narration, merchant code and every detail contained about that transaction. This helped in reducing the cognitive load in dealing with unnecessary long characters for the USSD code.
This made it easy to quickly dial. We also added the option to send the code as SMS to the phone number inputted in the biller portal. This was part of the inclusion taking into consideration that someone could be accessing this platform from their PC and to reduce the stress of having to type the code yourself, you can just send to your phone and dial straight.
Due to the nature of the code generated, it expires so we included the display that shows you when the code expires and also a button to confirm the payment once you pay taking into consideration that there might be network glitches that will not allow the automatic confirmation to proceed.
Solution - In-Branch
Another inclusive solution we brainstormed on, was having an option for those that wanted to initiate this and go to a designated branch to make payments. We discovered that 24% of users like to pay with cash hence going to the branch is a good option for them. This was gotten from Digital 2020: Nigeria — DataReportal – Global Digital Insights
Like the USSD option, the code was designed with simplicity as well removing the complexity of long characters. The option to send the code to a phone number and email address was added as well so that even if someone helped initiate this for you in another state, you can get the code and carry out your transaction seamlessly.
Solution - Card and Transfer
We also added the card and transfer. From the result of the data gotten from Digital 2020: Nigeria — DataReportal – Global Digital Insights, we discovered that 27% of users prefer using card while 23% like to use transfer. So, it was essential to add both options.
IMPACT
Accesspay was designed, developed and launched around September 2020 and so far as a payment gateway, it has done over 50,000 transactions using the different platforms and has earned the organization over USD 600,000 as at March 2021.
You can visit the biller portal through the link below, try to make a payment for a bill and you experience the smoothness of the payment gateway.
There are still opportunities for expansion of the gateway which can be explored for a better and smoother experience .
Hosted Site:
