Raiffeisen Bank: automating recurring payments and transfers without losing control
Designing automatic payments and recurring transfers that remove repetitive work while keeping every charge transparent and manageable.
Challenge
This project was designed for the Raiffeisen Bank mobile app.
At the time, automatic payments were available in the bank's web experience but not in the mobile app. Users had to complete recurring transactions manually or switch to the web version.
The challenge was to design an end-to-end mobile experience for automatic payments and recurring transfers, from setup and configuration to notifications and ongoing management.
What I did
- Analyzed the existing automatic payment functionality in Raiffeisen Bank's web experience;
- Conducted a competitive analysis of the web and mobile banking experiences at Sberbank, Tinkoff Bank, and Alfa-Bank;
- Reviewed publicly available feedback from customers of competing banks;
- Conducted in-depth user interviews to identify needs and pain points and validate hypotheses;
- Mapped the user flow and designed the final interface;
- Built a prototype for usability testing and refined the design based on participant feedback.
Problem
1. Recurring payments had to be completed manually
Users regularly pay for the same services: mobile plans, internet, utilities, subscriptions, or transfers to savings accounts.
Without automatic payments, users had to remember and complete these transactions manually. This created the risk of missed payments, late fees, service interruptions, or lost rewards.
For the bank, the missing mobile functionality made the product less convenient. Users could complete their main banking tasks on a phone, but support for recurring financial tasks remained incomplete.
2. The mobile experience was falling behind competitors
At the time, automatic payments and recurring transfers were available only in the bank's web experience. Meanwhile, more users were moving to mobile and expected to complete all essential financial tasks without switching channels.
Without this functionality in the mobile app, users had to move between the app and the web experience, while competitors already supported recurring payment management on a phone. The challenge was not simply to port an existing feature, but to design a complete mobile experience.
Research
I used several data sources to understand how the feature should work:
- Existing web experience;
- Competitive analysis;
- User feedback;
- Interviews.
The goal was to understand not only which fields the setup form required, but also what concerns users had before, during, and after enabling an automatic payment.
Existing web experience
I began by analyzing the existing automatic payment logic in the bank's web experience. This clarified which entities were already part of the product, which payment types needed support, and which scenarios had to carry over to mobile.
The mobile experience could not simply copy the web flow: on a phone, speed, clarity, and focused use of screen space matter even more.
Competitive analysis
I reviewed automatic payment and recurring transfer functionality across the mobile and web experiences of leading Russian banks:
- Sberbank;
- Tinkoff Bank;
- VTB;
- Alfa-Bank.
User feedback analysis
I reviewed competitor feedback on Otzovik, Banki.ru, and Sravni.ru, as well as in Google Play and the App Store.
Users valued automatic payments because they saved time and reduced the risk of forgetting recurring expenses.
Negative feedback most often concerned errors, limited transparency, and poor management controls: a payment failed, no notification arrived, changing the amount or date was difficult, or the option to turn the payment off was buried too deeply.
This confirmed that trust depended not only on successfully creating an automatic payment, but also on maintaining control afterward.
User interviews
I conducted 8 interviews, each lasting approximately 25 minutes. I explored:
- The recurring payments users made most often;
- Whether they currently used automatic payments;
- Where they expected to find the feature;
- What concerned them about automatic charges;
- Which notifications mattered;
- How they wanted to edit or disable automatic payments.
The interviews showed that users were generally willing to trust the bank with recurring transactions, but only when the interface explained the terms upfront, surfaced upcoming charges, and made payment management straightforward.
Design
Hypotheses
- Notifying users about an upcoming charge one day in advance would improve financial planning and increase their sense of control by giving them time to cancel an unnecessary payment.
- More flexible automatic payment rules, including minimum balance and payment schedule settings, would support more use cases by allowing users to adapt recurring expenses to their financial needs.
- Surfacing automatic payment information on the home screen would increase adoption by making the feature easier to discover and understand.
- A consolidated list of automatic payments and recurring transfers would improve transaction management and reinforce a sense of control by helping users plan ahead and cancel outdated payments.
- Failed payment notifications would build loyalty and trust by helping users resolve issues quickly and avoid fees, lost rewards, or payment delays.
- Allowing users to reverse an automatic payment within 15 minutes of a charge would increase trust and adoption by providing a way to recover funds after a forgotten or unwanted payment.
User flow
I mapped the complete user flow, from first discovering the feature to managing payments that had already been created.
This ensured that the design covered the full lifecycle of automatic payments and recurring transfers rather than stopping at setup.
Solution
Entry points
To keep the feature discoverable, I designed 2 entry points.
The first uses Stories on the home screen. This format introduces the new functionality and explains its value in simple terms.
The second is the Transfers and Payments section, where users already expect to find recurring financial tasks.
Automatic payments and recurring transfers
This section lets users set up automatic payments and recurring transfers, provides a brief explanation of each, and links to the complete list of existing payments and transfers.
The goal was to create more than a setup entry point: this section serves as a management hub for recurring financial activity.
Balance-triggered automatic payment
A balance-triggered automatic payment supports situations in which an account needs to be topped up when its balance falls below a threshold. For example, when a mobile phone balance drops below a set amount, the bank automatically tops it up by the amount selected by the user.
I added suggested amounts to make setup faster and a final review step so users could verify the terms before enabling the payment.
Scheduled automatic payment
A scheduled automatic payment supports recurring expenses with a predictable date, such as once a month, once a week, daily, or on the last day of the month.
The flow surfaces the next charge date before confirmation so users know exactly when the automation will begin.
Creating a recurring transfer
A recurring transfer addresses a different need: moving money between accounts rather than paying for a service.
The flow follows the same structure as automatic payments to remain predictable: select parameters → review the terms → confirm → success.
Success screen
The success screen summarizes the newly enabled payment, including its trigger or schedule, the next charge date, and options for future management.
I renamed the primary CTA to clarify the next step and added a separate action leading to the list of automatic payments and recurring transfers.
Payment and transfer list
The list combines active and paused automatic payments and recurring transfers, surfaces key information for each, and shows the total amount of recurring charges for the month.
Users can open payment details, edit the terms, pause, resume, or delete an automation, and create a new one through the primary CTA.
Contextual bottom sheet
When users repeatedly make the same payment or transfer, a contextual bottom sheet suggests turning it into an automatic payment or recurring transfer.
The prompt appears within the repeated action and helps users move from a manual transaction to an automated flow.
Stories
Stories on the home screen introduce the new functionality.
They explain the value of automatic payments and recurring transfers, highlight key use cases, and draw attention to the feature without adding clutter to the interface.
Push notifications
Push notifications keep users informed after they enable an automatic payment or recurring transfer.
They provide advance notice of upcoming charges, confirm successful transactions, and alert users immediately when a payment fails.
Testing
After completing the design, I conducted hallway usability testing on the primary flow: creating an automatic payment. The study included 8 participants, who were asked to enable an automatic payment independently and explain how they would manage it afterward.
All participants completed the task successfully.
Outcome
I designed an end-to-end mobile banking experience for automatic payments and recurring transfers, from feature discovery and setup to notifications and ongoing management.
The central design principle was balancing automation with control. Users can reduce repetitive financial tasks while retaining transparency across every transaction and the ability to update settings quickly.
Hallway usability testing confirmed that the primary flow was clear, and the solution was ready for development handoff.