36 daily fraud cases reduced to zero by March 2024
Digital Security
Fraud Prevention - Making UBL Digital #SaferThanEver
Redesigned sign-up, login and password recovery for more than two million UBL users. 95% switched smoothly; app fraud fell from 36 cases a day to zero by March 2024.
[Project Overview]
In 2023, I owned UBL’s sign-up and login redesign in response to the State Bank of Pakistan’s fraud prevention requirements. The app saw 36 fraud cases a day, costing customers about four million rupees daily. I studied how fraudsters moved through our journeys and redesigned sign-up, login and password recovery.
The solution combined biometric checks on new devices, phone-approved internet banking and a two-hour wait after major account changes, with fallback routes at branches and the contact centre. 95% of more than two million users switched without trouble. Daily app fraud fell to zero by March 2024.
[Problem Statement]
Fraudsters would call customers on their personal phone numbers masquerading as bank employees / government officials and use their publicly available information to garner trust and get access to their login credentials for digital banking. Once through they would transfer the customers money into their own accounts while keeping the customer busy and 'fooled' on the call.
[Industry]
Digital Security
[My Role]
Lead Designer
[Timeline]
May 2023 - March 2024
[Persona]
Nadia Shameem
Business Owner
I was busy with 10 other things - how was I supposed to know that it wasn't the bank calling and someone else? I couldn't afford to have my account be frozen.
Age: 40
Location: Karachi, Pakistan
Tech Proficiency: Low
Gender: Female
[Goal]
Wants to stay safe from fraudsters and scammers
Needs her app to stay safe even if her information gets leaked
Wants to have a seamless user experience to switch between devices
[Frustrations]
Doesn't have time to educate herself about fraud
Is extremely busy and doesn't have time to verify if the bank is calling
Doesn't feel secure with digital banking anymore
[Process]
User Research
Conducted research into fraud cases at UBL to identify sensitive points where information is leaked.
Analyzed complaint calls to understand customer behavior and information leaks
Benchmarked against competitors to identify best practices for fraud prevention.
Insights
Users were frustrated by lack of support and hand holding if their device got blocked
Heavy reliance on contact center since the app was confusing and unpredictable
Low customer education and skilled fraudsters meant people would share their information no matter what we did
Design Solution
Created a single, simple onboarding journey aligned with industry wide safety and security regulations
Added biometric verification through NADRA (identity database) to ensure fraudsters could not access devices remotely.
Designed fallback processes for customers who could get stuck in verification at branches and contact center and educated customers at every step to ensure complete transparency.
Testing & Iteration
Conducted A/B testing with 1% users for a month to ensure customers were being onboarded smoothly.
Gathered feedback through customer complaints continuously and refined the user journey and messaging accordingly.
Maintained a constant communication with branch and contact center and solved problems on ground through staff education.
[Outcome]
Daily app fraud: 36 cases to zero by March 2024
95% of more than two million users switched without trouble
Security OTPs fell 79% and related calls fell 70% (January–March 2024)
[Key Learnings]
Friction isn't always a bad thing
Even though biometric verification is a difficult process, it keeps customers safe from fraud.
Communication is key
If a customer is informed at every step what to do, even if they get stuck, it won't ruin their sentiments. Leaving customers confused with unclear instructions is bad UX.
Fallbacks are more important than the happy flow
Designing for corner cases and negative scenarios is more important since the success of your journey depends on the feedback of the 5% who will face issues or get stuck.