By transforming a purely functional feature into a playful and emotionally engaging experience, we reshaped how users perceive and interact with mobile payments—leading to increased engagement and satisfaction.
Sparked a significant increase in adoption of the personalised transaction feature within months of launch.
Encouraged users to use peer-to-peer transfers more frequently and intentionally, especially for gifting and personal moments.
Brought emotional and cultural relevance to a previously mundane task—making payments feel more human.
Helped position MCB Juice as a user-centric digital product, supporting broader innovation and retention goals.
Aligned with the bank’s strategic push to extend access to non-customers and grow its digital ecosystem.
MCB (Mauritius Commercial Bank) is a leading bank in the Indian Ocean region, offering digital banking services through its flagship mobile app, MCB Juice. As the bank looked to expand its offering to non-customers, it aimed to enhance the mobile experience and drive retention through innovation.
While the “send to mobile” feature had seen a 50% increase in volume from 2020 to 2021, the experience remained transactional and uninspiring. Users were sending money, but the app lacked the emotional layer that made it feel human or memorable. The bank wanted to reimagine this journey to increase engagement and stand out in a growing competitive landscape.
Over 8 weeks, I led the product strategy and user research, collaborating with internal teams and external agencies.
Market research: Benchmarked Venmo, PayPal, and Revolut to understand emotional design in fintech.
User interviews: Talked to 8 real users, revealing two key personas: “The Gifter” and “The Emoji Lover.”
Behavior analysis: Explored existing transaction descriptions to surface emotional intent (gifts, care, celebrations).
Prototyping & testing: Tested 2 gifting scenarios with 6 participants to refine the feature.
Collaboration: Worked closely with marketing and creative teams to define tone, imagery, and technical feasibility.
The new feature—internally known as Pay Emotions—introduced a more human, expressive way to send money via the MCB Juice app. By enabling users to personalise transfers with messages and visuals, the experience shifted from transactional to meaningful.
Users embraced the feature as a way to add sentiment to their payments, especially for gifts, celebrations, and personal gestures.
The design created a bridge between digital convenience and emotional connection, aligning with evolving user expectations.
Despite internal resistance, the project succeeded in demonstrating the value of emotional design and paved the way for future customer-centric initiatives.
The collaboration with local artists to create templates added a cultural touchpoint, fostering community connection and engagement.
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