Case study
Hemköp Matkonto
Payment solution with an integrated loyalty model and food budgeting tool for customers of Hemköp
About
Gain a competitive advantage by releasing an open-loop payment card
We’ve launched a new payment experience for the Swedish food retail company Hemköp, enabling customers to earn 25% more membership points when shopping at the Hemköp store and online. Since the card is a debit Mastercard, it works anywhere in the world.
2024
launched in
Hemköp
food retail store
Humla
built and launched by
SEB
financial provider
Opportunity
A unique value proposition
Previously, Hemköp had never offered any kind of payment card linked to customers memberships. But after Axfood acquired our company, Humla, and its payment plattform we built, they saw an opportunity to develop and launch a payment card in-house.
The major competitors could already offer payment cards connected to customer memberships, but the challenge with these was that one card was a credit card, which forced the customer to undergo a credit check, while the other solution was just a regular membership card that could only be used in the competitor’s own stores.
Built on SEB Embedded finance platform
On the embedded finance platform where we had previously developed the Humlakortet, we now saw an opportunity in the market, and for Hemköp, to offer a payment card that works both at Hemköp and worldwide. And unlike a credit card, it’s a regular debit Mastercard where customers pay with their own money and get rewarded for it.
Matkonto is an excellent way for us to reward our most loyal customers. When shopping with the card at Hemköp or Hemköp.se, customers receive 25% more bonus points. On top of that, the app provides a simple way to track grocery spending over time.
Johan Dahl
Head of Business Development, Hemköpskedjan
Built with market leading financial partners and retailers
Overall responsibilities
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I was responsible for driving the product design work end-to-end, from understanding user needs, business goals, technical constraints, legal compliances, and third-party requirements, to delivering hi-fi design solutions and post-release follow up.
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Beyond design-related tasks, I was also co-responsible for developing the value proposition and defining the associated business requirements. This included understanding the market, building product vision, time to money strategy, roadmaps, funnels, journeys, flows, WoW, NMS, OKRs, KPIs, among others.
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Since we worked with several partners and suppliers, including SEB, which provided the embedded finance platform, Axfood and Hemköp for membership integration, as well as Mastercard and Enfuce, which were responsible for issuing the Mastercard card – excellent communication and a high level of collaboration were required.
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I built the Hemköp Matkonto design system from scratch to enable scalable and consistent implementation of new features, leveraging and extending Hemköp’s core design principles and to stay accessibility compliant.
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In addition to designing the core Matkonto experience, I also designed the debit Mastercard, created 3D illustrations and mockups, and contributed significantly to refining the marketing materials.
Selected problem statements and HMW
Our generative research highlighted a couple of potential problems
My food money is on the same account as all my other expenses, and I can’t monitor how much is spent
How might we. Help people separate and track their food spending from other expenses to better manage their food budget?
Solution. Matkonto is a separate account to where the customer makes simple deposits with Swish, and therefore isolate the food money and monitoring it through an convenient iOS app.
I don’t want a credit card and undergo a credit assessment, I only pay with money I already have
How might we. Offer solutions that don’t require a credit card or credit assessment for users who prefer to spend their own money?
Solution. Matkonto is a debit Mastercard which means that the customers pay with their own money, and since it’s a Mastercard it works worldwide for all expenses.
It’s a hassle to open a joint bank account today with all paperwork and non-self service processes
How might we. Make opening a joint account easier and more self-service, reducing paperwork and manual steps?
Solution. Our solution is 100% self-service. When applying for Matkonto the customer can select joint account and then add whoever they want to share the account with. Both users can then access the same account.
I’m a loyal customer who has Hemköp as primary grocery store, but I don’t get enough in return
How might we. Reward the most loyal Hemköp customers in a way that reflects their ongoing commitment to the brand?
Solution. By using Matkonto all customers are eligible for an extra 25% membership points when shopping at Hemköp which will results in higher tier with higher bonuses and more of them.
Target groups
Real value emerges when customer motivations and needs are fully understood
Bargain hunter
Save money, earn benefits, get rewarded
Motivations
Earn more points and bonuses
Get communication on members days
Get updates on points progress
Money mates
Take control and monitor food expenses
Motivations
Earn more points and bonuses
Get communication on members days
Get updates on points progress
Motivations
Control keeper
Take control and monitor joint food expenses
iOS features to follow a food budget
Reactive overview and financial control
Functions to act proactive
SEB Embedded is built on top of SEB’s banking license, which enables us to be a full provider of financial services. We want to design and develop together with innovative partners and look forward to continuing our work with the team at Humla—our first banking-as-a-service customer.
Christoffer Malmer
CFO, and member of the Group Executive Committee, SEB
Lessons learned
Value Proposition and Business Model
The importance of a strong value proposition
No matter how strong the technology or expertise within the team was, it ultimately came down to understanding what the customer truly wanted and building the value proposition around that, since we were launching a product to an already established customer base that had shown loyalty to Hemköp.
Adoption and Scaling
Start small, learn, iterate and scale proposition
We began by conducting generative research to better understand the existing customer base, the challenges they faced, but above all, what kind of loyalty artifacts they were missing. From there, our goal was to release small parts of the experience step by step, in order to build momentum and credibility.
Marketing and Acquisition Funnel
Communicate product in relevant channels
Even though Hemköp already has a customer base of over 2 million, sharp marketing efforts are required to convince loyal customers to commit even further to Hemköp. This is done by promoting the payment service at touchpoints where customers can clearly see the actual value.
Roadmap and Vision
Focus on vision and product breakdown
We created a vision of what we believed Matkonto should stand for. This made it easier to communicate our strategy, goals, and the key metrics we work toward on a daily basis. The vision was built around a product vision board and simple design concepts to clearly illustrate what we aimed to achieve.
We are constantly developing to strengthen our customer offering and simplify the entire customer experience. Now, we are bringing together top expertise in financial services development within the Axfood Group. We look forward to taking further steps in a fast-moving area where new customer value will continue to emerge.
Frida Ridderstolpe
Head of Digital Development & E-Commerce, Axfood
Idea generation and story mapping
A glimpse into our extensive ideation phase and journey mapping
Taxonomy and wireframing
Starting building the app foundation and taxonomy structure
First draft of profile tab taxonomy and self-service features
Onboarding funnel
Mapping every step from first point of contact to first purchase
Metrics and impact
Matkonto delivers proven business value and enhanced customer satisfaction
>50%
of customers downloaded the app also acquired the product
NSM: Number of successful card applications per month
50%
of accounts have ≥ 12 transactions in the last 30 days
NSM: Number of monthly transactions per account
25%
of accounts have 1-11 transactions in the last 30 days
NSM: Number of monthly transactions per account
Key areas of impact
Segment advancement. A higher percentage of Matkonto customers are “full customers” compared to members in general. They move up in tier and increased their rewards.
Higher average receipt value. Matkonto customers have a higher average receipt value prior to using Matkonto, which could mean customers choose Hemköp over competitors in a larger extent.
Higher spend per member. Higher average spend per member compared to their spending prior to using Matkonto, which could mean they choose Hemköp over competitors in a larger extent.
More items per member. Matkonto customers purchase more items per member per month prior to using Matkonto, which could mean more planning when they go shopping.
Solution
Value proposition
Matkonto is among the first debit Mastercards in Europe to offer rewards for spending with your own money
25% more membership points. The customer is rewarded with an extra 25% points when shopping at Hemköp.
Financial insights. Access and get insights on a monthly and yearly basis. Customers with joint account can easy see how much each has deposited e.g.
Joint account. The customers gets one card each connected to same account and together managing their food money.
Pay anywhere in the world. We know that food money is not only used at one specific grocery store, therefore is Matkonto built for all food related expenses.
Food budgeting tool. By deposit the monthly food money the customer can keep track of the budget and expenses until next salary day.
Free of charge first 6 months. Explore the benefits of the product at your own pace. If it’s not for you, you can cancel your Matkonto at any time.
Figma Design System
Built with scalability and modularity to support product growth
Hemköp's basic color is red. It is used in our logo and is the color we are most associated with. But to create a more flexible, yet cohesive expression that also lasts over time, we've expanded our palette with some colors that complement the red well.
Onboarding
It starts with card application
Applying for Matkonto in the iOS app takes just 2 minutes. Customers can then add their card to Apple Wallet and start paying with Apple Pay instantly.
SEB financial KYC integration
iOS self-service application flow for single and joint account
Hemköp membership integration
Enfuce Mastercard personalization production integration
Free of charge first 6 months
Embedded finance
It’s simple, we wanted to offer a financial product without becoming a bank ourselves
SEB provides all necessary banking assets required for us to integrate financial services into non-financial products.
SEB Embedded finance
On top of SEB APIs we focus on building customer experiences throughout the entire funnel to enable the value proposition.
Building the experience
Under the trademark of Hemköp we released the new financial product and payment solution Matkonto.
Launching under a trademark
Financial insights
Designed for monitoring and control
The tool gives customers better control over their food money, how much has been deposited, the distribution between users and what the food money is spent on.
Monthly and yearly data sets for top ups and spendings
Real-time data overview for top ups and spendings
Top up distributions between joint account users
Distribution between purchases at Hemköp and other
Home view widget
Joint account
Built with shared households in mind
Each user get one card connected to same account, no paperwork needed, all self-service. The users can track all transactions made and easily find specific ones by filtering.
Self-service apply for joint account, no paperwork needed
Access same balance and transactions
Financial insights with top up distribution
Shared membership and earn more points faster together
Personal debit Mastercard with support for Apple Pay
Instant deposits and withdrawals
Customer manages balance using Swish app which allows them to do instant deposits and withdrawals. Swish is built on the Swedish central bank payment system RIX-INST that enables money to move in real time between accounts.
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