In Q2 2014, I helped the international digital agency Razorfish putting together a fully functional mobile app prototype to test the viability and desirability of a first-to-market product proposition for their client Lloyds Banking Group.

The app featured a full customer journey of applying for a car loan. Right from the point of choosing the car at a local dealer to getting the loan approved. And then completing the transaction to the dealer’s account, thus allowing the customer to drive off with their new car on the same day.

Although it was restricted to a subset of existing bank customers, this prototype behaved just like any banking related app would and had all connections to the backend API protected by high encryption and multiple security layers.

The actual product that resulted from this prototype was publicly revealed in early 2015 as Halifax Car Finance. And right on the soft-launch day, they had the first customer getting a secured car loan within minutes on his phone.

Feedback

Thank you for making us look good! The app has had excellent feedback from senior stakeholders, and everybody is pleased with it. So many thanks from me for your efforts here! We will be in touch very soon about future opportunities at Razorfish, and hope to see you again soon.

Technical

The mobile app was built in HTML5, styled off Bootstrap, glued together with AngularJS and connected to the custom Python backend API hosted in Google App Engine to interface the bank’s API. The web app was then compiled into a hybrid app with Phonegap. To help with development and customer testing we also used Lookback plus Instabug for in-app feedback and bug reporting.

Credits