Acid Test: Wio Bank - Sign up or sign out?

It was the summer of 2022 and despite being an Emirates NBD customer for over 12 years, I was turned away for not having enough monthly balance to buy a Rolls Royce (slight exaggeration, but you get the point), I was also due a call back to see what they could offer… but the call was never made. It’s an all too common, pain filled experience for entrepreneurs trying to set up a business account in the UAE. Someone help! Cue Wio Bank…

They’re a brand new, mobile only business bank service with an aesthetic even the trendiest Acid Works designer would be proud of. So much so we took some photos of their card which just so happened to match our new midnight blue MacBook Air.

So how is it?
So far so good! They’ve been calling me to help me along, they have a What’s App number which mostly works, and they communicate via email when required. (Special mention to the cool packaging when your card is delivered).

The brand and app design is as mentioned is slick and fast. Overall the whole experience has been refreshingly simple, so much so it feels too good to be true. Let’s see how the next few weeks goes and reach out if you need an intro to the team there.

6 month update:
Things are still pretty great with Wio Bank. Being a customer with minimal requirements each month it’s got everything we need. (We’re not using the invoicing functionality). Importantly, setting up transfers to pay our designers is easy and actual transactions are hassle free as long as you can remember what the correct home page button is to press. We recently tried to deposit a cheque at an ATM and had no idea that the way to start that journey was tapping ‘+’ on the home screen. This really needs to be improved fast… it’s kinda dumb.

Here’s Wio’s launch video:

Acid Test score: 4/5

What we liked:

• Super fast and easy business sign up account (is it magic)
• A clear focus on design and their end to end brand experience
• Simple and effective app features

What we didn’t like:

• Confusing user experience on the app home page
• A little too thin on features currently
• Not all brand touch points are polished to their potential

Summary:

Considering this is Dubai, we’re really happy with Wio Bank so far, it’s great to have a genuinely refreshing option in the mark now and we’re excited for the next round of updates.
Our only main gripe is while we really appreciate the aesthetic … we’re constantly forgetting where to tap to start a transfer on the main dashboard. Clearer iconography and copy would help solve this. Let’s hope the next round of updates can get them to a 5/5 Acid Test score!

Finally, a big shout out to Burcin and her design team (we used to work together at Accenture Interactive). It’s great to see work like this in the region, although as a music fan and DJ, we recognise where Wio’s inspiration came from ;)