At FairFX, there was an urgent need to improve the security of the signup journey to combat attempts by fraudsters to steal customer data and money. To get ahead of potential security threats, we introduced additional security measures by having new customers upload a selfie and photographic proof of identification to strengthen the authenticity of applications. At FairFX, the customer base covers a broad range of users—the challenge was to design a journey that anyone could use, including those who may be less technologically savvy. Given the urgency of this project, we worked closely with the onboarding, compliance, product, and engineering teams to deliver a solution built with existing technology.
The goal with the ID & verification journey is to provide the customer with clarity on what information they would need to provide, reassure them about how FairFX would use their data, and illustrate how to identify genuine communication from FairFX. Based on FairFX’s customer base, we designed the journey to be mobile first, to accommodate people who may be less comfortable with technology or may not own a laptop. Given the need to introduce additional security measures, we also updated the rest of the signup journey to see where we could streamline the process and reduce unnecessary steps the customer would need to take to register.
Following our research, we turned our attention towards understanding our existing customer base. Overall, we learned that our customers are mainly UK based, a bit older or retired, and with more financial means and time to travel.
We then organised these key findings into a user persona:
Travel more during retirement without dealing with currency stress
Dislikes complex fee structures and hidden charges
Finds traditional banks too clunky or outdated for travel
Confused by exchange rate fluctuations and travel money options
Wants easy access to money abroad without visiting a branch
Limited patience for overly technical or jargon-heavy financial products
To set the designs in motion, we convened a brainstorming workshop with the Engineering, Product, and Onboarding teams to gather feedback on technical feasibility.
This also laid the groundwork for future opportunities to integrate the solution into other sign-up journeys beyond FairFX.
We then mapped out the user flow and identified 3 areas where the guided ID capture flow could be inserted:
Option A: Inside the sign up flow, after the first step
Option B: After the sign up flow, before they create a password
Option C: After they sign in for the first time
The principal benefit of Option C was that it would reduce the number of steps required to get new customers into their FairFX account. However, since the primary goal of this project was to reduce the number of fake or spam accounts, we chose an approach where ID capture takes place before customers fully create their account.
Together with the Engineering team, we determined that identity verification would occur after initial registration but before the customer sets their password. This point in the journey made the most sense, as it allowed us to validate identity early without introducing friction during onboarding.
Next, we mapped out the end-to-end user flow, including visual diagrams of each stage. We outlined different user scenarios and planned the full customer journey—from sign-up through to account access. This included designing all email and notification touchpoints to ensure consistency and clarity throughout.
We also took the opportunity to reanalyse our current ID collection process, which helped us streamline the new flow and eliminate duplicate requests for information.
I added a visual graphic to indicate the next steps and set the customers’ expectations that FairFX needs to verify their identity before issuing an account
The next step for the user was to receive a text message. We added an illustration to show what they should see next. We wanted to make sure that they knew it was from us to improve security. We also added clear copy to guide them on next steps to let them know to expect a text message from us and that they’ll need to upload a photo of their ID and selfie.
Instead of sending customers an email, we chose to send customers a text message, as not all users have access to a laptop—and taking a selfie is significantly easier on a mobile device.
The next step for the user was to receive a text message. We added an illustration to show what they should see next. We wanted to make sure that they knew it was from us to improve security. We also added clear copy to guide them on next steps to let them know to expect a text message from us and that they’ll need to upload a photo of their ID and selfie.
