Evaluating a Visual Mobile Banking App for Users with Low Subjective Numeracy

Financial well-being is one of the many aspects of life affected by low numeracy. Digital banking interactions use numerically symbolic-based interactions. However, one of the critical learning difficulties often associated with low numeracy, a magnitude-processing deficit, is directly impaired by associating symbolic numbers with their equivalent magnitude. Using a user-centered design process, a visual financial management system was created. It was then tested with 40 participants of various reported subjective numeracy scores. The visual system was designed using a visual representation of money instead of a traditional application, which is purely symbolic-based. The study results indicated that the interactive visual system was the preferred design compared to the symbolic system for the lower subjective numeracy group. Furthermore, it also improved financial awareness and consideration across all ranges of numeracy.