Mox - 11:FS Ventures

A new virtual bank targeting Heart Share in Hong Kong
Grab mobile app card screen
11:FS has helped Mox Bank (Mox) to define underserved needs in the local market, to better understand what best-in-class digital banking looked like and how that could be translated to the unique market characteristics that Hong Kong presents.
The challenge
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They [11:FS] have different expertise coming from different virtual banks and this is valuable for us. Besides, when you look at the market and you try to understand the pain points and 11:FS helped us and we created the methodology together, and that methodology helped us a lot.

Deniz Güven
CEO of Mox
"

They [11:FS] have different expertise coming from different virtual banks and this is valuable for us. Besides, when you look at the market and you try to understand the pain points and 11:FS helped us and we created the methodology together, and that methodology helped us a lot.

Deniz Güven
CEO of Mox
Hong Kong welcomes digital banking

Hong Kong is one of the most innovative global financial centres. Its regulator the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) is playing an active role in fostering digital transformation, opening up the market with the launch of ‘virtual banks’, with eight licences available for potential suppliers.

"

They [11:FS] have different expertise coming from different virtual banks and this is valuable for us. Besides, when you look at the market and you try to understand the pain points and 11:FS helped us and we created the methodology together, and that methodology helped us a lot.

Deniz Güven
CEO of Mox
"

They [11:FS] have different expertise coming from different virtual banks and this is valuable for us. Besides, when you look at the market and you try to understand the pain points and 11:FS helped us and we created the methodology together, and that methodology helped us a lot.

Deniz Güven
CEO of Mox
"
They [11:FS] have different expertise coming from different virtual banks and this is valuable for us. Besides, when you look at the market and you try to understand the pain points and 11:FS helped us and we created the methodology together, and that methodology helped us a lot.
Deniz Güven
What we did
RBS Mettle mobile banking app and card
WeLab logo
US Retail Bank mobile app onboarding screen, dashboard, bills
CaixaBank logo
Customer focussed proposition design

11:FS has helped Mox Bank (Mox) to define underserved needs in the local market, to better understand what best-in-class digital banking looked like and how that could be translated to the unique market characteristics that Hong Kong presents.

11:FS began with a Discovery phase alongside the Mox team, using the Jobs to be Done approach to examine local competitor propositions and global propositions.

The second research phase then mixed qualitative face to face interviews with a mix of locals and expats to uncover the macro and micro jobs. This was followed by a quantitative survey with Hong Kong residents with a bank account, smartphone and met specific income criteria.

Through the research phase, 11:FS identified clusters to use as the basis for proposition design. Based on these insights, the Mox team defined its new virtual bank proposition and submitted its licence application to the HKMA.

Mox payment card
GrabPay card
Customer focussed proposition design

11:FS has helped Mox Bank (Mox) to define underserved needs in the local market, to better understand what best-in-class digital banking looked like and how that could be translated to the unique market characteristics that Hong Kong presents.

11:FS began with a Discovery phase alongside the Mox team, using the Jobs to be Done approach to examine local competitor propositions and global propositions.

The second research phase then mixed qualitative face to face interviews with a mix of locals and expats to uncover the macro and micro jobs. This was followed by a quantitative survey with Hong Kong residents with a bank account, smartphone and met specific income criteria.

Through the research phase, 11:FS identified clusters to use as the basis for proposition design. Based on these insights, the Mox team defined its new virtual bank proposition and submitted its licence application to the HKMA.

Citizens Access logo
Citizens Access logo
Mettle banking app transaction screen examples
A winning proposition

Mox is the virtual bank in Hong Kong backed by Standard Chartered, in partnership with HKT, PCCW and Trip.com. It is the combined power of a well-trusted international banking group, the city’s telecom and lifestyle leader as well as Asia’s largest online travel agency.

Launching in 2020, the bank aims to deliver a suite of retail financial services as well as lifestyle benefits all in one place, growing your money, your world and your possibilities.

Mox also differentiates itself by focusing on Heart Share as the bank believes it is in the trust business. Its research also showed that trust in a banking service was the most important thing for customers, compared to other markets in the region.

Mox has revealed its brand and you can understand more about the bank’s journey at Mox.com.

Strategy phase: a customer-centric proposition

Following the Design phase, 11:FS worked with Citizens Access to define their strategy for the new proposition. This involved working through some rapid concept and user testing sessions to ensure the service design helped the customer overcome the problem identified in the JTBD analysis.

11:FS moderated workshops with the Citizens Access team to define the purpose of the new proposition, its core values and the tone of voice the brand should adopt. The outputs of these workshops were combined with the cultural insights to enrich the Stories to be Told and thus their product marketing and brand strategy.

We tested different ways the brand could pitch the new proposition and arrived at a compelling direction for the Citizens Access team.

Finally, leveraging 11:FS’ vast experience of getting digital banking products to market quickly, the team defined a Minimum Loveable Product (MLP) prototype, roadmap and set of execution principles. This left the Citizens Access team with a clear direction on how to design a new breakthrough proposition and get that into the hands of their customers quickly.

GrabPay mobile app card screen
GrabPay: Southeast Asia’s leading digital wallet

Taking the 11:FS findings and ideas to the core of the offering, Grab set about building the app. In December 2019, it announced the launch of its Grab Pay Mastercard that sits at the core of its super app.

The GrabPay Mastercard is a significant step in Grab Financial’s strategic vision. It is the region’s first numberless card with access to an expanded rewards network and seamless Grab payments integration. It allows users, regardless of whether they have a bank account, to transact securely and easily online or offline, at nearly 53m merchants worldwide that accept Mastercard cards.

As an extension of the GrabPay wallet, it is highly secure with card details stored securely within the Grab app. It also has an in-app lock card function that is PIN-protected, allowing users to instantly suspend payments for lost cards.

Where super app’s go from here is only going to get more interesting. With Singapore and Malaysia both announcing their own Virtual Banking licences, the big tech companies from Asia are well placed to help the most underserved and over charged in ways that traditional banks can’t.

We’re proud to have played a major part in those developments through our collaboration with GrabPay on the launch it’s Mastercard.

Looking to build a bank?

If you like what you see and would like to work with us, we’d love to hear from you.