Instant Payouts case study [summary]

Instant Payouts by Wave

A concise case study; with a more in-depth project walkthrough available

Users benefit from the flexibility that faster payments offer, such as the ability to complete last-minute or emergency payments. With this capability, we helped Wave users avoid late fees, the risk of account overdrafts, and damage to their credit scores

Summary

Leading the small business accounting industry with “Instant Payouts”, and empowering small business owners with real-time* payouts.

Wave’s mission is to make it easier for small business owners to confidently manage their finances by providing a streamlined suite of accounting products and payment processing solutions. So, when Wave’s users wanted to receive their earnings more quickly to help ensure positive cash flow and put money back into their businesses, we needed to find a solution. As a payments project team, we worked with our solution provider to launch Visa Direct’s real-time push-to-card capability as part of "Instant Payouts" in December of 2018, becoming one of the first in small business accounting to offer push-to-card payments.

over 10k

"Instant Payouts" per month

20%

higher retention rate for small businesses using “Instant Payouts”

66%

of surveyed small businesses want to receive funds in real time

Challenge

Small business owners wanted a faster, more convenient solution

Our payment processing has always helped small business owners access their funds, but for businesses that operate 24/7/365 - they needed to receive funds faster in order to ease their cash flow worries. These entrepreneurs wanted access to funds over weekends and bank holidays so they could run their businesses more efficiently. The solution also needed to work for a diverse user base, with some small businesses receiving several payouts per day and others using the service only a few times per year.

Problem statement

As a small business owner using Wave, the current delay of 2-5 business days in access to funds is hindering my ability to initiate projects quickly for my clients. The process for accessing funds needs to be improved to allow me to purchase the supplies and merchandise that I may need.

"Today, more than ever, small businesses are looking for ways to manage their cash flow. When they need money, they need it quickly and whatever financial rails enables us to move that money faster is where we will invest. Visa Direct is able to help move money at the speed of data and frankly the way it should be. This is why we are continuing to work with them to bring ‘Instant Payouts’ to other markets and products."

— Les Whiting, CFSO, Wave

Project planning (a year long affair)

1. Research pod formation

My PM and I start conducting in-depth research with SMB users

2. Discovery & framing sprint(s)

Identify SMB users need access to capital quicker to start projects

3. Explore opportunities

Investigate new payment tech. Settle on "Invoice Loans" via FundBox

4. Ideate with project team

Ideate on solution(s) using "crazy 8's", create 2-3 concepts

5. Concept test

Test the different concepts with target demographic

6. Time to pivot

Users are wary of a "payday loan" model, back to the drawing board!

7. Revisit opportunities

Back to the research. Discover new tech from Visa - Instant Payouts

8. Ideate with project team

Ideate on solution(s) using "crazy 8's", create 2-3 concepts

9. Concept test

Test the different concepts with current and target demographics

10. Work into mockups

Finalize designs with internal stakeholders and test with users

11. Hand-off to dev

Work closely with developers on the hand-off process for designs

12. Design QA & Alpha release

Release to first set of users, identified based on payments activity

13. Gather feedback

Talk to Alpha customers with my PM. Design, build, ship to Beta!

14. Beta release

Open up to a bigger audience & get fresh feedback. Iterate quickly before launch

15. Present to the board

SLT ask my PM and I to present our success metrics to the board

16. General release to user base

Launched as only revenue driving feature for Wave in 2018

17. User research & data analysis

Use data & user research to inform iterations for v1, expand feature

Solution

We listened to our users and worked to understand their pain points

In December 2018, we enabled Visa Direct’s real-time* payments and launched "Instant Payouts” to help small business owners protect themselves from cash flow limitations and give them faster access to funds for payroll and other expenses. After running some sessions around customer value and pricing models, we decided to charge a 1% fee for "Instant Payouts,” a cost that, we discovered, many entrepreneurs were willing to pay for the assurance that funds will be available when they needed them. Our users mentioned feeling more confident that they won’t have to tap into their personal accounts for business purposes. A second-iteration of the product introduced scheduled “Instant Payouts", giving small business owners the ability to schedule payouts if they don’t have time to log into the app.

Designing the solution

I started by involving the entire project team in the ideation sessions for Instant Payouts. We ran several "Crazy 8's" sessions to flesh out several key flows for the full in-app experience. Using the ideas from these sessions, 2-3 concepts were created and tested with users (comparative testing), before starting to refine an approach.


Once the final concept was created based on the previous tests, I ran through the entire flow from end-to-end with members of the Wave user-base to ensure that it was both intuitive and easy for the end-user. The designs were then further refined and usability tested before being handed over to my engineering team, ready to be built.

Additional UI examples in project walkthrough (portfolio review). Please reach out if you are looking for something in particular.

"It’s a new way of doing things. Push this button and get your money fast. Don’t wait five days. Don’t wait two business days. Get your money right now and have it available to use."

— Reza Rahimi, Senior Product Manager, Wave

Result

“Instant Payouts” helps Wave retain customers and grow its business

As an early adopter of real-time payments, Wave managed to relieve concerns about cash flow and was able to enable small business owners to be more efficient. “Instant Payouts” has helped Wave retain current customers and acquire new ones, continuing the trend of fast growth for the company. Following the implementation of “Instant Payouts,” we heard from users that they were more satisfied and willing to stay with Wave longer. They use the funds to cover expenses, like new equipment or inventory, that enable them to run or expand their businesses. Small business owners loved the flexibility “Instant Payouts” provides — they can use it for every payout or only when they need fast funds. Plus, with real-time payments being processed through the Visa network, they can feel assured that the payouts are secure.


This product has been so successful that Wave expanded the offering to include all of it's users.

Looking for more?

During the hiring process, I will usually walk through a detailed presentation of the Instant Payouts project. I'll go over major learnings, my product design process (including experimentation), and a deep-dive into how the feature works. It will also touch on designing for mobile, and how successful we were based on key metrics identified at the beginning of the project.

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