
Akoni
Banking platform and tools
MY ROLE
UX, UI, Visual Design and Branding
AREAS COVERED
FinTech, Open Banking, Cash Management, Cashflow Planning, New Client Onboarding and Conveyancing
AWARD
Nesta Open Up Challenge Finalist
Savings Champion Best Cash Savings Platform
Akoni FinTech - Empowering SMEs with Cash Management Solutions
Challenge
Akoni, a FinTech start-up, aimed to deliver significant value to SMEs by increasing returns and aligning financial products with business growth stages. The platform combines Open Banking data with other open data sources to offer personalised financial solutions, while adhering to FCA regulations.
Solution
As a sole designer at Akoni, I collaborating closely with the CTO and stakeholders, to design Akoni’s cash management platform for SMEs. Key contributions included:
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Digitalising the new client onboarding process, enabling online account opening while meeting FCA and UK banking requirements.
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Designing user journeys, visual designs, and development specs for banking and financial product integrations.
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Integrating Open Banking technologies to offer business and cashflow planning, as well as personalised credit product offers.
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Creating innovative product concepts for grant consideration, along with marketing materials and presentations.
Results
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The Export Planner product was selected as one of the 12 finalists in the 2018 Nesta Open Up Challenge, a government-backed prize fund for small business banking innovation.
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Akoni won the Best Cash Management Platform Award from Savings Champion in 2021.
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Akoni was acquired, marking a significant milestone in the growth of the platform and its continued success in the market.
This project highlighted my ability to design user-centric solutions in the financial space, combining regulatory compliance with innovative product development to drive business success.
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I created web style guide, iconography and and UI components library.

I worked on Akoni's SME Trade Intelligence platform, leveraging their existing technologies to enable business planning, cashflow forecasting, and access to credit products from various banks, all through the use of Open Banking technology. This product was selected as one of the 12 finalists in the 2018 Nesta Open Up Challenge and was later adopted by at least 10 companies as a white-label solution.




I also created branded presentations and templates to be used by the sales and marketing teams.











