Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation

A Japanese multinational banking and financial services institution recognized the need to modernize its 20+ year-old legacy digital experience into a best-in-class cash and treasury management platform.

Overview

Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), a Japanese multinational financial institution, sought to modernize its 20+ year-old legacy cash and treasury management platform.

The goal was to improve operational efficiency, attract new clients, and enhance the overall digital experience for its corporate banking customers. Our solution delivered a best-in-class platform grounded in research-driven design and market best practices.

Objectives

Streamline domestic and international transaction processes
Improve client engagement and user satisfaction
Increase transaction volume and deposit balances
Enhance security and fraud prevention
Support global business operations across Americas and EMEA

Summary

Our process began with a deep dive into the current system, competitor analysis, and market research to establish a foundation for modernization. A heuristic evaluation uncovered critical usability issues and technical limitations, which informed the creation of a concept prototype for stakeholder review and feedback.

Finally, we delivered a prioritized development roadmap, focusing on features for the first release while outlining directions for future research and iterative improvements. Implementation began immediately by SMBC technology teams.

Competitor Analysis: Reviewed 15 competitors and benchmarked 130 capabilities
Pain Point Discovery: Identified 120+ user challenges across workflows
Workshops & Requirements: Conducted 5 BRD workshops, resulting in 34 business requirements
Prototyping & Testing: Developed 5 prototypes for iterative feedback and testing

Key Insights (Spark)

End users manipulated the experience to generate different type of documents

Recognizing how users would navigate the application in their journey to present content on-screen and generate reports was key to developing areas of content, and automated and ad-hoc reporting tools.
The new experience had to allow users to make queries to find information easily, and create documents to support their workflows. Automating and organizing documents became crucial for users.

Customers wanted to automate everything from their CRM

They wanted a simple way to upload or integrate transactions, create and manage users, and easy ways to automate repeat vendor payments in the cash and treasury management experience.
Increasingly bank customers were using FinTech solutions to manage multiple accounts across many banks.

Activities

1
AnalysisConcept Refinement1

RequirementsUnderstanding

Concept Development
Stakeholder Interviews
External SME Interviews
Heuristic Evaluation
Market Analysis
Competitor Analysis
Use Case Development

2

AnalysisBrainstorming

Data Analysis
Technology Review
Persona & Journey Mapping
Concept Refinement

3

DesignPrototype

Clickable Prototype Development
Design System (DSM) Management
Prototype Testing
Follow-Up Focus Groups

4

DevelopmentRealizing the Future

Prioritized Roadmap
Delivery Estimates
Backlog Management

Ethnographic Research

Key Findings

Unintuitive Navigation: Users struggled with an interface that required excessive manual exploration to accomplish tasks.
Inefficient Processes: Essential data was not readily accessible, impacting user efficiency.
Limited Digital Capabilities: Existing tools were unreliable and prone to errors, adding frustration for users.
Lack of Personalization: Users across different roles experienced the platform in the same way, leading to unmet needs for customized data and views.
Security: Customers were very concerned with fraud, and accidently sending payments with incorrect hijacked information.

AvalonBay Journey Maps — Example of a Journey map from a key persona, Company User

New Design

Our prototypes were made for desktop, tablet, and mobile. The visual language was an extension of SMBC’s DSM, pushing it further to include new components.

By grounding our solution in thorough research, we transformed SMBC’s experience into a secure, robust platform complete with all the missing features and capabilities their customers expected.

Enhanced Login Experience: Universal login for streamlined access, with state-of-the-art digital security measures, and a first-time guided login process for easier troubleshooting.
Comprehensive Homepage Dashboard: At-a-glance view of cash portfolio and activities, real-time and historical data visualizations, tooltips, tutorials, and customizable views.
Streamlined Wire Transfer Dashboard: Centralized domestic and international wire transfer activities, simplified sending and receiving of wires, automation features for efficiency, detailed transaction history and insights, and upload and system integration features to automate transactions from a customer CRM.
Robust Reporting Capabilities: Easy access to daily and customizable reports, centralized tools and utilities, and improved exporting and automation options.
Fraud Prevention Features: Payment history used to auto-highlight inconsistent contact transaction details, to prevent payments sent to incorrect destinations.
Administrative Tools: Role-based user management, secure document sharing and notifications, personalization options in “My Profile”, and upload and system integration features to manage all users from a CRM.
Global Design System: Consistent user experience across regions, scalable and adaptable design framework.

Daily iterations with SMEs, Technology and Design teams

End-to-end experience for onboarding SMBC customers, reporting, and domestic and international transfers

Challenge

Unintuitive Navigation – Users struggled with an inefficient, outdated interface.
Inefficient Processes – Data was scattered, requiring extensive manual effort.
Limited Digital Capabilities – Tools were unreliable, frustrating users.
Lack of Personalization – The system provided identical experiences for all users, failing to meet specific needs.
Security Concerns – Fraud prevention was a growing priority for customers.

My Role

As the Experience Team Lead, I spearheaded the research, strategy, and iterative design process, ensuring alignment with business objectives and user needs. My leadership focused on:

Daily Iteration & Refinement

Continuous improvement based on user insights and testing.

Cross-functional Collaboration

Partnering with SMEs, technology teams, and stakeholders to balance feasibility and innovation.

Managing Scope Creep

Prioritizing features to maximize impact while maintaining project timelines.

Stakeholder Engagement

Leading regular feedback sessions to ensure alignment on vision and execution.

Competitor Benchmarking

Analyzed 15 competitors and 130 key capabilities.

User Research

Conducted ethnographic studies with SMBC bankers, financial advisors, competitor customers, and SMEs.