B2C FINTECH
This conceptual case study explores daily spending insights and subscription tracking, shifting Amex from a monthly bill check to a daily money management tool, driving engagement and loyalty.
Role : Product Designer, User Researcher
Timeframe: 2 weeks
Company: American Express
Conceptual Case Study
Problem
Solution
Impact
Task efficiency: 90% of participants completed key tasks independently.
Adoption potential: Average likelihood to use monthly rated 8.5/10.
Retention: 75% of participants said the features would make them more likely to stay with Amex.
Competitive advantage: Multiple participants said they’d switch if Amex offered similar insights.
Emotional impact: Users reported reduced anxiety and greater confidence managing payments.
Let's go back to the beginning …
DISCOVERY
I looked at high-street banks, fintechs and third-party app that offer some sort of financial insights. I focused in on the two types of finances: day-to-day spending & subscriptions / direct debits.
DISCOVERY
AMEX users lack visibility into recurring payments and category-level spending. This creates frustration, surprise charges, and forces some customers to rely on competitors for financial insights.
Research Objectives
How users currently utilise their Amex consumer app
Understand how/if users currently track their day-to-day finances
Understand how users manage their subscriptions / direct debits
Identify any pain points they currently experience with their finance management
Probes attitudes and emotions surrounding financial management
Define
With the insights gathered, I created How Might We statements, explored potential solutions whilst considering Amex’s business needs.
DEFINE
UI DESIGN
Amex does not currently have a public-facing design system, so I used the existing Amex app as my primary reference point. My goal was to maintain visual and interaction consistency with the brand while extending it to support new features.
With the Amex design system already established, I was later able to go on to create high fidelity designs and prototypes.
Colourway: I followed Amex’s established palette (primarily deep blues and white with accent tones) to ensure continuity with the core brand identity. This helped seamlessly integrated the new features.
Shapes and components: Amex consistently uses rounded buttons and soft-edged arrows throughout the interface. I carried this through into my designs, reusing rounded forms for buttons, CTAs, and navigation elements to match the existing interaction style.
Iconography: When creating custom icons, I was conscious to keep them simple, geometric, and in line with Amex’s visual language. I maintained consistent stroke weights, rounded corners, and avoided overly playful or illustrative forms to preserve the professional tone of the app.
Typography: I mirrored the font hierarchy and weight distribution as seen on the mobile app. This meant using bold styles for key numbers and labels (such as transaction amounts) and lighter weights for supporting details, ensuring clear scannability.
Spacing and layout: Amex favours generous white space and a clean, uncluttered layout. I applied the same spacing ratios and alignment rules to keep the overall experience calm and approachable, especially important for financial information that can otherwise feel overwhelming.
Micro-interactions: I noted that animations in the Amex app are minimal and purposeful. Where I introduced new interactions (such as category filters or subscription breakdowns), I kept transitions subtle, reinforcing trust rather than distraction.
IDEATION
With several themes identified, each theme became a design opportunity area. I ideated and explored potential solutions for the homepage, subscription tracker and spending insights features using the Crazy 8’s activity.
DESIGN
The spending insights feature provides users with a clear, categorical breakdown of their day-to-day spending, supported by simple visuals (bar chart) for quick reflection.
By dedicating a separate page in the nav bar to the feature, insights remain easy to access without overwhelming the transaction feed. User feedback highlighted this tool as both useful and desirable, with participants noting they would return to it regularly to better understand their spending patterns.
DESIGN
I labelled the feature ‘Recurring Payments’ instead of ‘Subscriptions’ to keep consistent with credit card terminology and to reflect a broader range of charges. While subscriptions can be paid by credit card, many direct debits such as utilities or council tax cannot. ‘Recurring Payments’ captures both types without creating confusion or limiting the feature’s scope.
TESTING
Spending Insights
Strong delight: The category breakdown was praised for clarity, with 7/8 calling it “easy to use” and “time-saving.”
Ease of use: Participants located and navigated the feature quickly, completing tasks with little friction.
Visual chart: Some users appreciated the weekly bar chart view, but 5/8 users commented that a visual of the categorical breakdown would be more useful.
Past transactions: Multiple users wanted comparisons across months to track changes over time.
Subscription Tracker
Information layout: Users valued having key details (amount, frequency, next due date) surfaced at a glance, with an option to drill down for history
Vendor details: “Recurring Transactions” was widely understood and relatable, with some suggested alternatives like “Subscriptions”.
Missing features: 5/8 wanted filtering by frequency or price, and 3/8 asked for month-to-month cost comparisons.
Past transactions: Users highlighted the importance of searching and reviewing historical charges to check alignment or spot surprises.
Overall
Daily implementation: Most participants said these tools would encourage them to use the Amex app more frequently, shifting behaviour from monthly bill-checking to daily management.
Adoption: Average likelihood to use was 8/10. Five participants said it could replace their current banking app for subscriptions.
DESIGN
Guided by usability feedback, I refined the prototype to make spending insights more visual, recurring payments easier to manage, and vendor details more actionable. The final designs emphasise clarity, flexibility, and transparency while aligning with Amex’s goal of driving more frequent app engagement
View Prototype!
RESULTS
Usability testing confirmed that the prototype addressed major user pain points. Participants praised the clarity of the spending breakdown and the ability to organise recurring payments, with most describing the features as something they would use regularly.
Task Success: 90% of users were able to complete core tasks (viewing spending insights, managing subscriptions).
Subscription Management: Average likelihood to use monthly: 8.1/10. Most saw it as complementary to other banks, but 5/8 said it could fully replace Monzo or Revolut for recurring tracking.
Spending Insights: Average likelihood to use monthly: 8.8/10. 7/8 participants said they’d use it regularly, with 6/8 noting it would make them more likely to stick with Amex over competitors.
Vendor Details: 7/8 participants found vendor information (address, contact, cancellation link) especially valuable, highlighting its role in reducing stress and preventing confusion around surprise charges.
Competitive Positioning: Participants directly compared the features with Monzo and Revolut.
4/8 participants admitted they currently use challengers mainly for transparency, and said they would shift to Amex if these features existed.
Business Impact: These features move Amex from a passive “monthly bill check” to a daily financial management tool. They increase app engagement, reduce customer anxiety, and strengthen Amex’s parity with challengers while offering a unique differentiator: deeper vendor-level transparency.
AT THE END OF THE DAY…