With the advent of fintech, the banking world has been confronted with design thinking. It has emerged as a highly effective and customer-centric method for solving many business problems, such as:

• New regulations
• Competition from new market entrants
• Increasing customer demands

Design thinking unleashes creativity and supports developing innovative solutions that are desirable (customers are interested in buying), feasible (banks can deliver upon the promises made), and viable (banks can make a profit). It puts the customer center-stage, focuses on satisfying customer needs and understanding customer jobs-to-be-done. 

Through its iterative approach, design thinking delivers differentiated and superior solutions, both from a functional and an emotional perspective. By observing customers in their natural environment, prototyping and validating ideas, design thinking ensures that developed solutions work. 

This article discusses how design thinking can aid in making banking more innovative and uses a real-world case study to illustrate key traits.