Illustrative engagement. A representative scenario showing how we approach this kind of work in financial services. It does not describe a specific client; outcomes are described qualitatively.
Industry overview
What is shaping financial services
Banks, NBFCs, fintechs and wealth firms compete on trust, convenience and fair pricing, while reaching new customers in smaller towns and online.
- Digital channels now lead customer acquisition
- Financial inclusion opens new segments
- Trust and complaint handling drive loyalty
Client background
A non-banking finance company, working in Tier-2 and tier-3 India. This is an illustrative engagement: a representative scenario showing how we approach this kind of work, not a named client project.
- Organisation
- A non-banking finance company
- Sector
- Financial services
- Team engaged
- IT & Development
- Services
- Offline data collection (CAPI), Quantitative research
Client challenge
Many applicants dropped out between application and disbursement.
Research objectives
- Deliver on the brief: understanding the loan application journey.
- Design around the real needs of applicants.
- Define requirements and success criteria the solution would be tested against.
- Deliver a reliable, secure solution the team can run and extend.
Target audience
The work focused on 1,500 applicants.
- applicants1,500
Audiences we typically reach in financial services
Retail customersSmall business ownersNew-to-credit customersBranch and agent staffWealth clients
Geographic coverage
Coverage: Tier-2 and tier-3 India. Market: India.
- India
Research methodology
An iterative delivery approach: discovery, design, build and test in short cycles, with the client reviewing each step.
- 1Brief
- 2Applicant interviews
- 3Journey mapping
- 4Insight
We interviewed applicants who completed and abandoned their applications about documents, waiting times and communication.
Offline data collection (CAPI)Quantitative research
Sampling strategy
- applicants
- 1,500
- Users and stakeholders from every affected team took part in discovery workshops and acceptance testing.
Data collection
- Requirements were gathered through workshops, process walk-throughs and a review of existing systems and data.
Data quality & validation
- Peer code review on every change
- Automated and manual testing
- User-acceptance testing with the client
- Release checklist and rollback plan
Data analysis
- Usage and performance monitoring after launch
- Defect and support-ticket trends
- Process time before and after
Key findings
- Unclear document requirements caused most drop-outs.
Clarity keeps applicants in the journey.
Recommendations
- Build on the core insight: clarity keeps applicants in the journey.
- Focus effort where the evidence was strongest: unclear document requirements caused most drop-outs.
- Re-measure after the changes to confirm the effect.
Business impact
- The company introduced a single checklist and WhatsApp updates.
What changed in the business as a result of the work. Impact is described qualitatively.
Deliverables & next steps
- Insight report and management presentation
- Cleaned data file and data tables
- Deployed solution with documentation and handover
- Support and maintenance plan
- Repeat the measure after changes are in place to track progress.
- A natural follow-on question: what blocks financial inclusion?