Choose your own way to live wherever.
Bankinter Lab / Fintech / B2C
Intro —
The First Service of Human Banking.
As Head of Service Design at Bankinter, I led a comprehensive research project called Human Banking. The first phase involved conducting several interviews with a diverse group of users—including clients, prospects, and both older and younger individuals—to uncover the most pressing needs, their perception of banking, and their common behaviours related to money.
After analysing the research findings, we used the insights to facilitate co-creation workshops with both users and business stakeholders. These sessions led to valuable discoveries and, after refining our ideas further, we identified a promising business opportunity in the renting and housing sector. This marked the beginning of an exciting new direction for the project, setting the stage for further exploration and innovation in this area.
The idea —
Adapting Banking Services to Life Moments
Through in-depth research, we gained a deeper understanding of the issues and pain points users face in their journey to find housing—whether it’s about achieving independence or starting a life with a partner, and whether they are looking to buy or rent.
One key insight that emerged was that most users feel abandoned by their banks during these critical moments. They expressed frustration with the fact that the bank is only present when they need to apply for a mortgage but doesn’t address the broader, ongoing housing needs they face. Many users felt that the bank doesn’t understand their real housing challenges or offer meaningful support until it’s time to secure financing.
This gap in support presented a significant opportunity to design services that better meet users’ housing needs throughout the entire process, not just when it’s time to take on a mortgage.
In Spain, 23.5% of the population lives in rental properties, with 56% of them intending to buy a home within the next 4 years.
Contrary to our initial assumptions, we found that a large percentage of users plan to buy a home in the future, with the average time until they make the decision being about 4 years. However, Bankinter was not part of their considerations—either due to positioning or price. This presented us with the challenge of designing a service that addresses users' needs during their rental period, while also positioning Bankinter as the go-to option when they eventually transition from renting to buying.
From our research, here are some of the insights users shared with us:
“I would like that my bank helps me to access the house that I want, not that they just try to sell me a mortgage.”
“During the time I lived for rent, it was hard to save until getting the apartment that suited my preferences.”
“With my lifestyle, rent is the formula that allows me not to be physically tied.”
Opportunity —
Positioning Bankinter as the First Choice: From Rental to Homeownership
By analysing the market and collaborating with various business areas within the bank, we realised that understanding the financial behaviour of users over several years would allow us to anticipate their mortgage needs and offer excellent conditions with low risk when the time comes for them to buy a home.
This insight led to a shift in our positioning strategy. Instead of waiting until the end of the decision-making process, when we struggle to compete on price, we decided to anticipate the purchase decision by engaging users during their rental period. This approach allows us to be the first to offer the best mortgage terms, positioning Bankinter as the preferred choice when users decide to make the transition from renting to buying.
A Unique Market Opportunity
Currently, no competitors are offering meaningful support or guidance to customers in the rental housing sector. Most banks only engage with users during the mortgage application process, leaving a significant gap in the market.
By positioning ourselves within the rental housing space, we have the opportunity to pioneer this territory, becoming the first bank to offer relevant services and support for renters. This will not only set us apart from competitors but also improve our positioning in the user’s mind, ensuring that Bankinter is top of mind when they eventually transition from renting to buying a home.
Prototyping —
A Service Designed for Every Stage of Home Living
We are currently working on two key initiatives to ensure the success of this service:
Collaboration with the business team to balance financial goals and create the best commercial hook for attracting new customers at the rental stage.
Collaboration with the design team to develop prototypes that allow us to test the service with real users, helping us identify an attractive value proposition that fosters user engagement and retains clients until they are ready to buy their own house.
Our goal is to create a service that supports users through every phase of their housing journey, from renting to buying, ensuring they feel supported and engaged along the way.
IoT Integration for a Smarter Service
In our effort to create a truly differentiated value proposition, we’ve identified a significant opportunity to integrate IoT systems into our service. We are currently researching and testing IoT devices such as Alexa and Amazon Echo to find the most useful and appealing ways to integrate this technology, adding real value for our customers.
Bankinter has always been recognized as one of Europe's most innovative banks. In 1993, we became the first online bank in Spain, providing routers to our customers to help them connect to the digital world.
Building on that legacy, we’re now exploring the possibility of becoming the first bank to offer IoT devices to customers, allowing them to monitor and control their home’s daily expenditures and energy consumption, all while staying connected to their bank accounts. This cutting-edge approach could offer an entirely new level of financial visibility and control for our clients.
Lessons Learned —
Designing connections: bringing users and banking together.
We’ve received highly positive feedback from both Bankinter stakeholders and users about this new service. Turning a large-scale research project into a tangible, user-centred service has been a significant success for the design department, allowing us to demonstrate the value of this process within a traditional organisation.
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