What does a PayPal executive, who after leaving the company caused a tussle of controversy, do next?
Focus on bank user experience.
That’s what Rakesh Agrawal — who left PayPal earlier this year after what was called an “epic meltdown over Twitter” — is doing with his newly launched startup, ReDesign Mobile, about which he shared details exclusively with Bank Innovation today.
ReDesign Mobile is a consulting and strategy firm aimed to “creating great consumer experiences,” Agrawal said. Agrawal explained that “payments and retail aren’t known for user experiences. People are used to great experiences: Amazon when it comes to e-commerce, Facebook, and Google. When people visit a bank’s website, they say ‘oh, this kinda sucks.’”
Improving the user experience is becoming increasingly important for banks and financial institutions. At NextBankUSA earlier this summer, there was a strong focus on user experience, specifically for mobile apps. Similarly, Moven CEO Brett King included a UX designer in his list of “Top 5 Banking Jobs in Five Years,” noting that a “storyteller” will be important in helping users determine “what products customers need and when they need them.” Agrawal hopes ReDesign Mobile will aid in this effort.
“Our end goal creating better products for customers,” he said. “If you know what to change, even if it’s small, you can develop loyal customers. ”
Agrawal thinks the UX problem stems from banks not hiring the right people.
“Banks can’t compete with Silicon Valley startups when hiring because Silicon Valley companies offer massive equity packages,” he said. “And even if they were able to [hire a UX designer away from a tech company], he or she may not ‘get’ finance — the regulatory and privacy concerns make it a whole different world with different considerations.”
Agrawal went on an interesting “secret shopper” quest in New York recently, where he went in to bank branches — including those of Chase, Citibank, Charles Schwab, and Bank of America — and asked some pretty simple questions. According to Agrawal, most bankers were not able to answer them, with the exception of those at TD Bank. One of ReDesign Mobile’s goals is to help financial institutions manage their customer experiences better. Agrawal said “every little bit of friction in banking dramatically reduces user adoption. We want to help these institutions build up these products.”
Not just mobile
That doesn’t mean that ReDesign will focus only on mobile. “Consumers are using so many of these products — between mobile apps, web pages, and retail stores — you can’t focus on one and you want all of them seamless,” he said.
Agrawal cited a few examples of bank policies that are outdated:
One of my pet peeves is that I’m asked me to speak out loud my Social Security number. No one should hear my Social Security number, not my banker or the people around me. It should be easy to input my social into the computer, especially since there’s a pin pad right there.
Agrawal also had some choice words for interactive voice response (IVR). Yes, IVR cuts costs for banks, he notes, but most users don’t turn to a telecenter for help unless they came across a problem that could not be solved online. “I never call just to check my balance,” he said.
As of now, ReDesign has a team of six, including experts in user experience, law, and finance to complement Agrawal’s expertise in tech startups and payments. Employees work from wherever they are, whenever they want, which Agrawal says keeps employees happy, but also lets them interact with real users outside of the Silicon Valley tech bubble. Agrawal noted that many FIs do not have employees who understand the “regulatory and privacy aspects of user experience.”
While Agrawal expressed interest in working with financial institutions, he said he was open to working with a company that’s passionate about user experience, “but my requirement is that it actually wants to do it,” he added. “I don’t want to build a prototype that won’t see the light of day. I want to create products that will affect millions of people.”
A legacy from PayPal, perhaps.