Sri Lanka
More than
250 000 clients
Ceyloan
An online platform for fast loans in Sri Lanka
The service makes it easy to access funds in emergency situations without collateral or guarantors, providing instant approval.
Ceyloan is an online micro-loans service for Sri Lanka residents up to Rs 80,000 in 5 minutes
The task
Create and launch the service and the entire sales funnel in 5 months from scratch in a new market.
Requirements
Create a mobile app and website
English and Sinhala language support
Set up data collection and analytics
My steps to solve the problem
1. Market analysis
The microloan market in Sri Lanka is a dynamic sector that plays an important role in the country's economy. It offers a wide range of financial services to cater to the needs of different population groups, including low-income and rural populations.
Competitors:
The aspects I've been analysing:
Design and user experience
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What are the main functions offered to users?
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How do they work?
User reviews
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What do users say about the product?
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What problems do they experience?
Product functionality
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What are the main functions offered to users?
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How do they work?
The aspects I've been analysing:
Accessibility
Ceyloan should be available both online and through the branch network to reach the widest possible audience.
Interest rates:
Offer competitive interest rates to attract customers.
Speed of loan processing
Simplify and speed up the loan processing process as much as possible to stay ahead of competitors.
Functionality
Expand the functionality of the app by offering additional services
Digital experience
Develop a user-friendly and functional mobile application to improve user experience.
Safety
Emphasise the security of user data to gain their trust.
Loyalty
Develop a loyalty system to incentivise repeat borrowing.
Additional services
Offer additional services such as online insurance to increase its appeal to customers.
2. Qualitative audience research
40 interviews with potential users were conducted
Reasons for applying for microloans
Service requirements
Fast loan processing
Clear terms and conditions
Ease of use
Low interest rates
User issues
Queues
A lot of documents
Uncomfortable working hours
Don’t trust to online services
User expectations
Quick and easy loan processing in the online application
High quality of support service
Round-the-clock availability of the service
Possibility of early repayment without penalties
Low interest rates and transparent terms
3. User personas
Sandjay
Male
35 years old
Employee
City
Needs
Need quick access to a small amount of money (Rs. 500,000)
Does not want to waste time on collecting references and queues
Looking for a simple and straightforward service with low interest rates
Barriers
Distrust of online microloan services
Fear of debt bondage
Concerns about the security of their data
Nishcha
Female
27 years old
Saleswoman
CountrySide
Needs
Need a small amount of money (Rs 300,000) for repairing home appliances.
Does not have access to banking services.
Does not know how to use the internet.
Barriers
Distrust of online services.
Fear of fraud.
Concerns about the security of hers data.
4. CJM
1. Recognizing a need
Sanjay urgently needs money to repair his car.
He doesn't want to borrow from friends or relatives.
He starts looking for online loan options.
2. Information Search
Sanjay finds information about Ceyloan on the internet.
He reads reviews about the service and compares it with its competitors.
He downloads the Ceyloan app to familiarize himself with its functionality.
3. Loan processing
Sanjay registers on the Ceyloan app.
He fills the loan application form and sends the required documents.
He gets the loan approval within 10 minutes.
4. Receiving the money
The money is deposited in Sanjay's bank account.
He uses it to pay for the car repairs.
5. Repaying the loan
Sanjay repays the loan early through his mobile wallet.
He does not pay any penalties.
Business requirements
Maximum Sri Lankans interested in getting a microloan should first, or after researching competitors choose Ceyloan.
Customers who have received a loan must repay it by the due date.
Credible customers should be given more loans with better conditions.
Flowchart
Based on the collected information, we and the development team created a FlowChart describing the operation of the service
Design System
To speed up the development and launch of the product, the Material UI design system was used as a basis. Especially since the development is done in React Native, as we needed to be cross-platform.
The design system was further redesigned and improved, which you can read about in the article
"Developing a design system for a cross-platform product working in 6 countries"
Design
200+
Screens
100+
Illustrations
10
Prototypes
10
Versions
Multilingual system
I chose Noto Sans as the main font because it supports the largest number of languages.
I have adapted all Figma files to work with many languages.
Testing the product during the creation process
In order to reduce development time and costs for the company, I prototyped the app in Figma and tested it on Sri Lankan users.
My goal was to fix the texts in the application and check if it was understandable to the users.
A lot of texts have been changed
Active contract screens have been finalised
Changed the order of shans in the questionnaire
Setting up and collecting product metrics
Objective:
To understand how users interact with the Ceyloan application.
Determine which elements of the app are effective and which require improvement.
Increase user conversion at all stages: from registration to loan repayment.
Registration
Number of visits to the login page.
Number of users who started the registration.
Number of users who completed registration.
Percentage of users who abandoned registration at each stage.
Time spent on registration.
Questionnaire
Number of users who started filling out the questionnaire.
Number of users who completed the questionnaire.
Percentage of users who abandoned the questionnaire at each stage.
Time taken to complete the questionnaire.
Number and percentage of users who provided:
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Mandatory information.
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Optional information.
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Optional documents.
Active contract
Number of users with an active loan.
Average loan amount.
Average loan term.
Percentage of late payments.
Number of users who repaid the loan early.
Repayment
Number of users using online payment.
Number of users using offline payment.
Average amount of payment.
Time spent on payment.
Percentage of users who did not pay the loan on time.
Additional analysis
Contacting the helpdesk
Comments in Play Market
Competitors' changes
User behaviour in the application
Results of work
Users' satisfaction
Contacting customer support
Number of successful loan repayments
Company's development costs
Repeat loan disbursements
