The Challenge
Banco del Austro was looking to grow its deposits by capturing more savers — particularly small savers: People who put aside modest amounts of money, often informally — in envelopes, in cash, or in accounts they barely used.
This segment was the most prolific by volume, yet also the most underserved. The question was how to design something that truly worked for people saving just a little at a time.
Like many in the industry, the team initially assumed that offering higher interest rates would attract more savers.
That assumption turned out to be wrong — and the research made it clear why.
In fact, the lowest-interest-rate account they offered was attracting more savers than the highest one.
They were baffled. And so were we.
The Approach
We took a Jobs To Be Done (JTBD) lens to rethink what it really means to save money — particularly small amounts, over time.
Instead of starting with product features, we started with the process:
What are the steps, decisions, and struggles small savers go through to succeed — or fail — in saving?
Our goal was to understand the real job behind saving, so we could design an experience that matched how people actually live and behave.
The Insight
Three key insights shifted everything:
1. Interest rates didn’t matter.
The amounts being saved were so small that the interest accrued over months — and even years — had no significant impact. Most savers didn’t even consider the rate when choosing where to save. The traditional logic of “higher yield = more attractive” simply didn’t apply.
2. The hard part was staying motivated.
People didn’t struggle to open a savings account — they struggled to stay saved. Without a compelling reason or emotional connection, saving quickly lost priority.
3. Saving was a weekly ritual.
For most, saving wasn’t about long-term goals. It was a week-by-week behavior — a small habit that built up over time. If they missed a week, momentum was lost and the habit faded.
The Innovation
Instead of trying to fix interest rates, we repositioned the product around a prize-linked savings model — a behavioral nudge proven to boost engagement among everyday savers.
We used behavioral principles to guide the experience:
• The more you saved, the more chances you had to win the prize.
• If you didn’t save this week, you didn’t participate in this week’s draw.
• Saving became a habit with built-in motivation and a simple emotional payoff: stay consistent, stay in the game.
Rather than promising better returns, we offered savers a reason to show up every week — a system that rewarded consistency and turned saving into something active, not passive.
It made saving feel like something worth doing again — not a chore, but a small game with real stakes.
And it worked fast.
The Outcome
Within three weeks — before we wrote a single line of code — more than 1,000 small savers joined the waitlist.
Clear, early proof of demand for a more engaging, motivating way to save.
Banco del Austro gained the confidence to invest in a product that had traction even before it hit the market.
This wasn’t a feature bet. It was a validated behavior shift — grounded in insight, and built to grow.