CAPITEC

Stokvel Account CX Design

Stokvels are a deeply rooted part of South African culture, playing a vital role in the financial lives of over 11 million South Africans contributing R50 billion annually.

The goal was to create a digital-first Stokvel account reflecting Capitec's values of simplicity, accessibility, affordability, and personalisation — disrupting a market where competitors still relied heavily on branches, creating a poor client experience.

How might we design a secure, simple, and fully digital Stokvel account that serves the real needs of South African saving communities, while protecting all members and meeting compliance requirements?

DESIGN CHALLENGE

PROJECT OBJECTIVES

CX OBJECTIVES

To design an end-to-end digital Stokvel experience for core and middle-market clients, enabling group savings with shared accountability, transparent contribution tracking, and secure payout management — accessible remotely as an omni-channel experience

PROJECT SUMMARY

A digital-first, omnichannel Stokvel account governed by 3 Capitec-banked main members, featuring a chunked account opening flow, no constitution requirement, fund reallocation capabilities, proactive fraud prevention, and end-to-end communications covering all states — including negative, error, and compliance flows.

ROLE: PRODUCT CX SPECIALIST

PROJECT DATE: 2025 - NEXT PHASE

CLIENT: CAPITEC

PROJECT STATUS: COMPLETE - IN NEXT PHASE

SOLUTION

The Stokvel Account was designed from the ground up — from landscape research and client immersion, through journey mapping and iterative UX design, two rounds of usability testing, end-to-end communications design, a full experience review, and targeted research into naming, offboarding, deceased estate handling, and fees. A defining characteristic of the project was its non-linear, iterative nature — requirements from compliance, fraud, and EDD teams arrived in waves, repeatedly requiring the team to revisit and realign the journey, UX flows, copy, and communications. This demanded a high degree of adaptability and cross-functional coordination throughout.

The project began with a comprehensive review of the South African Stokvel market.

Product teams created accounts with competitor banks and conducted desktop research to map existing offerings, identify gaps, and define the opportunity for digital disruption.

PROCESS:

Competitor Landscape Research

Name Research

A survey was developed and conducted to determine which product name resonated most with clients

Research questions were crafted and findings compiled across open-ended, needs-based, and trust and safety questions — uncovering how clients associate meaning, familiarity, and trust with each term, directly informing product naming and copy decisions.

A stakeholder workshop was held to map the end-to-end client journey across 6 Key business stages: Forming, Onboarding, Contribution, Paying Out, and Administration, and Offboarding.

The App was established as the primary channel, supported by WhatsApp, Call Centre, Branch, SST, and USSD as a full omni-channel experience. Highlights, pain points, support needs, and considerations were mapped at each step across all channels.

Client Journey Design Workshop

Client Journey Mapping & UX Design

The end-to-end Client Journey Map was created in collaboration with the product team, UI/UX designers, and key stakeholders. The initial UX design followed a linear flow, which was subsequently restructured into a chunked flow — breaking the journey into discrete, manageable stages. This pivot required adapting the CJM and all associated work to align with the new design direction.

Two rounds of usability testing were conducted with users varying in tech savviness and life stage moments.

Throughout the design process, gaps in business requirements were proactively identified and resolved — sourcing missing rules and requirements from the product team in parallel with UX design and communications work.

Offboarding Research — Deceased Estate Process Mapping

A deceased estate process map was created alongside research questions and a focus group guide to understand how Stokvels handle the removal of main members due to death or other circumstances.

The research explored exceptional scenarios involving resolution in case of death of all 3 main members, fund distribution, cultural norms, and client expectations of the bank — informing the rules, process design, and experience considerations for main member removal and deceased estate handling. This piece was with immense collaboration with the CX Servicing and channel teams.

Usability Testing, Gap Identification & Resolution on Business Requirements

End-to-End Communications Design

In partnership with the UX Writer, full ownership was taken of the end-to-end communications for the Stokvel journey. This work was carried out while the UX journey was still evolving, requiring multiple iterations of the comms to stay synchronised with changing requirements and flows.

Communications covered all states — including positive flows, negative and error states, compliance scenarios, and EDD flows for clients flagged as high risk. Where new screens and pause states were required — particularly within the EDD process — UX teams were briefed directly on the requirements.

1-Pager Experience Summary Document

A 1-pager summarising all experience highlights & pain points was co-created with a CX servicing colleague, incorporating both the CX/journey perspective and servicing inputs. The document provided a consolidated view of friction, risks, and recommendations across the full end-to-end experience — serving as a reference for prioritisation in subsequent phases.