From forgettable to a bank people talk about.
A bank that looked like every other bank.
Bank78 serves up-and-about professionals in Nigeria. Its first version didn’t connect with them: the product looked and felt generic, and people left.
In 2024 I led the rebrand as senior and lead designer: a new identity, and the mobile and web app rebuilt around it, from onboarding to investing.
Before & after
01Before: a generic blue bank app that didn’t speak to its people, and many of them left.
02After: bank78, a clover mark in mint on midnight, made for up-and-about professionals.
03Open the account you need in minutes: personal, business, or 78 teens.
04Send money in a few taps: the amount, the account it comes from, done.
05Above the limit? A quick face check confirms it’s really you.
06Then grow it: a vault, investments and loans, all in the 78MFB Hub.
Illustrative, drawn for this case study from the before and after described here.
- The rebrand: the bank78 name in use, the clover mark, and a mint-on-midnight palette
- Mobile & web app 2.0: the product rebuilt on the new identity
- Onboarding & trust: account types, facial recognition, MFA and tier upgrades
- Moving money: sending, conversion, bulk transfers, payment links and scheduling
- Growing money: vaults, investing, loans and cards, in the 78MFB Hub
- Going global: a Canadian wallet with Interac e-Transfer
- 01 · DiagnoseWhy v1 churned
- 02 · RebrandIdentity
- 03 · CoreEveryday banking
- 04 · Grow78MFB Hub
- 05 · LaunchResults
Why v1 didn’t land.
v1 was capable but cold: a stock planet, a tagline about being “one global bank”, and spreadsheet-like screens. Nothing in it looked like the professionals it was for.
What shaped 2.0.
The brand didn’t look like its customers.
Generic blue and stock imagery said “bank”, not “for me”, and people churned.
Professionals want money moves to be quick.
Most visits are about sending, paying or checking a balance.
Their money is growing up.
Up-and-about professionals save, invest and borrow, not just spend.
Trust has to scale with the amount.
Small transfers need speed; large ones need certainty.
Premium, quick and yours.
1Go dark and distinctive: mint on midnight
Evidence · Insight 01Refresh the blue identity, or start again with a brand that stands apart from Nigerian banking apps.
A new bank78 wordmark and clover mark in mint on a deep midnight-teal, carried through every screen of the app.
The audience wanted a bank that feels premium and personal; standing out was the point.
A dark UI needs care for contrast and legibility in bright Lagos daylight.
2Grow money in one place: the 78MFB Hub
Evidence · Insight 03Scatter savings, investments and loans across menus, or give growth its own home.
A Hub tab beside Home, Payments and Profile, holding vaults, investing and loans.
Keeps everyday banking fast while making growth products easy to find.
One more tab, so each Hub product needs a clear entry point.
3Security that scales with the amount
Evidence · Insight 04The same checks for every transfer, or more checks only when the stakes rise.
Everyday transfers stay quick with a PIN; amounts above your limit trigger facial recognition.
Speed for the common case, certainty for the rare big one.
A camera step can fail in poor light, so it needs clear guidance and a fallback.
Mint on midnight.
Churn, reversed.
- Insight 01Churn after 2.0Retention rate: 30- and 90-day retention, v1 vs. 2.0 cohorts.
- Insight 01Brand perceptionDesirability test: words people pick for bank78 vs. v1.
- Insight 02Time to sendTime on task: from opening the app to a completed transfer.
- Insight 03Hub adoptionShare of active users with a vault, investment or loan.
- Insight 04Face-check successTask success rate: high-value transfers verified first time.
- Insight 01Would you recommend it?NPS before and after the rebrand.