User experience emerges as digital banking battleground in Nigeria – Report

Nigeria’s digital banking race is shifting from feature expansion to user experience, as a new industry report by Interswitch finds that poor in-app support and usability gaps are emerging as major friction points for consumers.

The payments and digital commerce company on Tuesday released its State of UX in Financial Apps: Nigeria Report 2025, a data-driven study assessing how Nigerians interact with leading financial applications.

The report concludes that while digital adoption has accelerated, user expectations around speed, transparency, personalization and trust have outpaced improvements in app design and support systems.

Based on surveys of hundreds of users, in-depth interviews and evaluations of major financial apps, the study asked Nigerians a direct question: what do they want from their bank’s app? The answers were consistent: faster performance, clearer interfaces, fewer errors and real-time, effective help when issues arise.

Read also: Female-led firms top revenue growth in Africa’s private capital market – Report

The most striking finding is that 71 percent of respondents described help options within their financial apps as ineffective. Users reported unclear error messages, limited guidance during failed transactions and difficulty accessing responsive in-app support.

Bill payments, airtime purchases and complaint resolution ranked among the weakest experience areas, even as basic transfers generally performed better.

The findings suggest that as mobile channels become the primary interface between customers and financial institutions, usability may determine competitive advantage as much as pricing or product breadth.

“User experience is no longer a cosmetic layer in financial services, it is the product itself,” said Cherry Eromosele, executive vice president, group marketing and communications at Interswitch.

She noted that trust, simplicity and reliability now differentiate platforms in a crowded market where most banks and fintechs offer similar core services.

Nigeria’s digital finance ecosystem has grown rapidly over the past decade, driven by fintech expansion, mobile penetration and regulatory reforms.

However, the report argues that growth in functionality has not always translated into intuitive design. As more Nigerians rely on apps for everyday transactions, design flaws can undermine trust and slow financial inclusion efforts.

Using globally recognised usability frameworks, including principles developed by usability expert Jakob Nielsen, the study benchmarked Nigerian financial apps against best practices in system feedback, error prevention, consistency, flexibility and accessibility.

While improvements were recorded in transaction reliability and transparency, the report identifies missed opportunities in user guidance and accessibility design.

Read also: Nigeria’s manufacturing sector runs as micro-outfits, one-person workshops – report

The findings reflect a broader maturation phase in Nigeria’s fintech landscape. Early competition centred on onboarding speed and transaction costs. The next phase, the report suggests, will be defined by how seamlessly users can navigate complex services without friction or confusion.

Interswitch’s ecosystem-wide role of connecting banks, fintechs, merchants and consumers, gives it visibility into patterns of user interaction at scale.

The company said the goal of the report is not merely to critique existing platforms but to encourage collaboration across the sector.

Beyond consumer surveys, the study also incorporates insights from product designers and financial service leaders, emphasising continuous testing, user-led decision-making and cross-industry knowledge sharing as critical to raising standards.

For regulators and policymakers focused on deepening financial inclusion, the implications are significant. If digital channels are to bridge access gaps, especially for first-time or less digitally savvy users, apps must become simpler and more supportive, not merely more feature-rich.

As Nigeria’s digital banking market grows increasingly competitive, the report positions user experience as the new frontier, one that could shape trust, retention and long-term value across the financial services ecosystem.