Sony Bank

Sony Bank, a Japanese online bank, saw an opportunity to radically simplify the banking experience for expatriates, a rapidly growing demographic. They needed to understand the existing landscape, identify users’ pain points, and create a digital service that addressed those needs.

A screenshot of a banking website interface, featuring a navigation bar with options such as Home, Cards, Blog, Help, and Open Account. The main banner has a background image of an ATM with two blurred figures in front of it and text overlay that reads ‘Take your bank with you,’ promoting the convenience of managing multiple currencies through an encrypted and mobile banking platform. On the right side of the image is a depiction of a mobile phone displaying the bank’s app interface with account balance and transaction details visible.

Designit’s team delved into the end-to-end banking experience of foreigners in Japan. Through desk research and interviews, we learned what users expect from banks in Japan, which currencies they use, and how current services compare to online banking standards around the world. The team distilled three main insights:

1. Due to its specific procedures and reliance on physical services, the current banking system has a steep learning curve for foreigners.
2. Newly-arrived foreigners are restricted by the lack of multilingual financial services.
3. Exchanging currency isn’t a daily banking need.

A collection of eight smartphone screens, each displaying a different interface design of a mobile application. The background is blue with shadow effects around the smartphones. Each screen features a white base with various elements such as text boxes, buttons, and icons in shades of green and blue. The interfaces appear to be part of a financial or banking application, showing elements like transaction history, payment options, and account balance information.

Sony Bank’s English Open Account app offers customers a simple and quick way to open a bank account online. While opening an account in Japan is usually a heavily regulated and paper-based process, now foreigners can digitally share their information and scan documents on mobile.

We collaborated with Sony Bank and its English online banking service by designing an informational and promotional website. In clear, straightforward English, the website introduces the products and explains their uses and benefits. For additional support, customers can head to the English help desk.

A laptop screen displaying a webpage titled ‘English help desk’ with a search bar and a list of frequently asked questions (FAQs). Each FAQ has a dropdown arrow for expanding to view the answers. The laptop brand is SONY, visible on the bottom bezel of the screen.
A laptop screen displaying a webpage with the title ‘Getting started’ at the top. The page includes a step-by-step guide labeled ‘1. First sign-in’ with instructions underneath. Step 1 instructs to select ‘Sign in’ at the top corner of the screen, followed by a screenshot showing where to find the sign-in button. Additional text provides guidance on entering a branch number and account number, but specific details are not visible.

‘I really like the website. The aesthetic is very clean and simple. It is uncluttered compared to a lot of Japanese websites. Navigation is also easy, with all the most likely to be used links displayed in the top lefthand corner at all times.’

Sony Bank user

Details

Client

Sony Bank

Industry

Finance

Project team

Pascal Ruppert

Sai Bhavani Sunder

Junior Castro

Hadas Zucker

Raphael Hodé

Yasuyuki Kowata

Mai Saito

Offerings

Design Research

UX Design

Digital Design

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App Store

Google Play

Money Kit

Get in touch

Yasuyuki Kowata

Design Director

[email protected]