Turning a credit card into a service customers can manage themselves
AEON Credit Service Indonesia provides consumer financing solutions, including the AEON VISA credit card. As customers increasingly expect financial services to be available through their phones, the company saw an opportunity to make credit card management more direct, practical, and accessible.
The existing AEON Fast application was built primarily around consumer financing. It did not yet give credit card users a complete digital way to apply, monitor transactions, review billing information, or access promotions. Some user reviews also pointed to unreliable features, connectivity issues, interface problems, and a generally difficult experience.
Suitmedia worked with AEON Credit Service Indonesia to develop a more focused AEON Credit Card application for iOS. The goal was to bring consumer financing and credit card services together in one clearer platform while creating a foundation that could evolve as customer expectations changed.
The old experience made simple financial tasks harder than they needed to be
1. A financing application was being asked to serve a broader purpose
The previous AEON Fast application supported consumer financing services, but credit card users needed a different set of capabilities. They needed to apply for a card, review transactions, understand billing information, and manage their account without relying on a physical branch.
That gap between the application’s original purpose and customers’ evolving needs created unnecessary effort. Users who wanted to apply for a credit card still had to visit an AEON office, even though many early stages of the process could be handled digitally.
The issue was not simply that a feature was missing. The absence of digital card management meant that AEON could not provide a complete relationship with its credit card customers through the channel they increasingly preferred: the mobile device.
2. Customer feedback exposed problems in trust and usability
User reviews raised concerns about non-functional features, internet-related issues, poor user experience, and interface design. These comments were signals that customers were not judging the application only by its list of services. They were also judging whether the platform was dependable and easy to use.
For financial services, this distinction is important. A user may tolerate a confusing interface in a casual application, but uncertainty becomes more serious when the application involves transactions, bills, credit limits, and personal information.
When customers cannot complete a task confidently, they may turn to offline support, abandon the process, or question the reliability of the wider service. Each of these outcomes adds pressure to customer support and weakens the value of digital self-service.
3. The challenge was to simplify without losing service depth
The new application needed to serve more than one purpose. It had to combine consumer financing services with credit card management while remaining understandable to users who may only want to complete one task at a time.
This created a structural design challenge. If all services were presented equally, the application could become crowded and difficult to navigate. If the experience focused too narrowly on credit cards, it could weaken the connection with AEON’s broader financing services.
The solution required a clearer information structure: users needed to know where they were, what they could do, and which action should come next. The app had to make a broad service portfolio feel like one coherent experience.
4. A better interface needed a stronger operating foundation
Refreshing the visual design alone would not resolve the underlying issues. The application also needed a more considered user journey, clearer navigation, reliable functionality, and a development approach that could support future updates.
AEON’s goal was therefore not to create a more attractive application for its own sake. It was to create a mobile service that reduced unnecessary steps, made credit card management more accessible, and strengthened the company’s ability to serve customers digitally.
The larger opportunity was to shift the customer relationship from occasional, location-based interactions toward an ongoing and more convenient mobile experience.
Designing the app around the tasks customers actually need to complete
1. Start with the structure before refining the surface
Suitmedia began by analyzing the user journey and establishing a clearer information architecture. This structure was represented through a mobile navigation map, which helped define how customers would move between consumer financing, credit card services, transactions, applications, and rewards.
This step was important because a navigation system is more than a menu. It determines how users understand the service and whether they can predict where to find a particular action.
By mapping the structure before finalizing the interface, the team could identify unnecessary complexity early. It also helped ensure that the visual redesign would support the logic of the service rather than simply place new styling over an unclear experience.
2. Use the user journey to define the right level of information
Credit card applications contain information that customers need, but not all information needs to appear at once. A user applying for a card has different needs from someone checking a recent transaction or reviewing a reward.
Suitmedia’s approach focused on organizing the experience around these distinct tasks. The intent was to make important actions easy to locate while avoiding an interface that overwhelmed users with too many choices.
This supports a basic principle of financial product design: the application should provide enough information for confident action, but not force users to process the entire service before completing a specific task.
3. Prototype the experience before building it
The AEON Credit Card application for iOS was first prototyped in Figma. Prototyping allowed the team to examine the structure, screen relationships, and navigation behavior before development began.
This reduced the risk of discovering major usability problems after the product had already been built. It also created a shared reference for discussions between business stakeholders, designers, and developers.
The reason this matters operationally is straightforward: changes are easier and less costly when the experience exists as a prototype rather than as completed code. Early clarity allows the development team to focus on building a stable product instead of repeatedly revisiting fundamental navigation decisions.
4. Modernize the visual language to support confidence
The app’s design and layout were updated to create a more intuitive, engaging, and approachable experience. The visual system was intended to make the application feel current while helping users distinguish between different services and actions.
In a financial application, visual clarity has a functional role. Clear hierarchy can help users understand which information is most important, whether an action has been completed, and where they should go next.
A more modern interface also supports AEON’s broader service positioning. When the experience feels current and coherent, the organization is better able to communicate that its digital services are keeping pace with customer expectations.
5. Build the interface in manageable components
Frontend development used SwiftUI and a modular approach. This meant that interface elements could be developed as manageable components rather than as one tightly connected block of code.
The immediate benefit was greater control during development. Components could be reviewed, adjusted, and maintained more easily, helping the team manage the application’s complexity as features were added.
The longer-term benefit is flexibility. A modular interface gives AEON a stronger basis for future development because new features can be introduced without requiring the entire experience to be rebuilt. This supports faster response to customer feedback and changing service requirements.
6. Bring card application into the digital journey
One of the most important changes was enabling users to apply for an AEON credit card through the application using their eKTP. This reduced the need to visit a physical office for the initial application process.
Digital application is valuable not only because it saves time. It also lets customers begin their relationship with AEON in the same environment where they may later manage transactions, review information, and access rewards.
The result is a more connected customer journey. Application is no longer separated from ongoing account management; it becomes the first step in a broader digital relationship.
7. Combine management, payments, and rewards in one place
The new application brings together consumer financing services and credit card management. Users can manage transactions and access reward-related features within the same platform.
This integration reduces the need to move between separate channels or systems. It also gives AEON more opportunities to remain relevant after a customer has obtained a credit card.
The strategic value is greater than convenience alone. When routine tasks, account information, and benefits are available in one place, the application has more reason to become part of customers’ regular financial habits.
8. Test in real device conditions before launch
After development, Suitmedia conducted functional and device compatibility testing through TestFlight before the application was released on the App Store.
Testing was necessary because a mobile application is experienced across different devices, operating conditions, and user behaviors. A feature that works in a controlled development environment may still create problems when users interact with it on different screen sizes or under different conditions.
The testing stage helped validate whether the app’s features worked as intended and whether the experience remained consistent across supported devices. This reduced the risk of launching an application that looked complete but failed at important moments in the customer journey.
A more complete digital relationship with AEON customers
1. The application brought key services into one platform
Suitmedia successfully supported AEON Credit Service Indonesia in developing a modern iOS application for credit card and consumer financing services. The new platform gives customers a more integrated way to access AEON offerings through their mobile devices.
This integration addresses a central weakness in the previous experience. Customers are no longer limited to using the application for one category of service while relying on physical channels for another.
By bringing services together, AEON created a clearer digital entry point for both existing customers and people considering an AEON credit card.
2. Customers gained a more practical way to apply and manage cards
The new application enables users to apply for credit cards digitally using eKTP and manage card-related activities through the app. This creates a more direct path from interest to application and from account ownership to everyday management.
The benefit is especially meaningful for tasks that customers may need to complete repeatedly, such as reviewing transactions or checking account-related information. These actions can now be handled through a mobile experience designed around user needs rather than through a service structure built mainly for financing applications.
The shift also helps reduce dependence on physical visits for tasks that can be completed digitally. That can support greater operational efficiency while giving customers more control over when and how they interact with AEON.
3. The refreshed experience supports greater confidence
The application’s updated design, clearer structure, and improved usability address the types of concerns raised in earlier user feedback. While no digital product can eliminate every technical issue, a more deliberate design and testing process creates stronger conditions for reliable use.
For customers, confidence comes from several small signals working together: information is easy to find, actions are understandable, features behave as expected, and the service feels consistent.
In credit card management, these signals matter because customers are entrusting the application with financial decisions and personal information. A user-centered experience can therefore support not only satisfaction, but also a stronger perception of AEON’s service quality.
4. The app creates a foundation for continued service development
The use of SwiftUI and modular frontend components gives AEON a more manageable basis for future improvements. This does not guarantee that every future feature will be simple to build, but it provides a more organized structure from which the application can evolve.
That matters because customer expectations will continue to change. Users may want more account controls, new rewards experiences, clearer financial information, or additional digital services over time.
A product that can be updated more systematically is better positioned to retain users. It can respond to feedback instead of allowing the experience to become outdated again.
5. Digital convenience can reduce pressure on physical channels
When customers can apply for and manage credit cards through the app, fewer routine questions and requests need to begin at an office or through manual support.
This creates a second-order operational benefit. Physical and service teams can focus more on cases that require human judgment, while straightforward tasks move through a self-service channel.
The result is not the replacement of human service. It is a better division of work between digital and physical channels, with each handling the interactions it is best suited to support.
The deeper lesson: digital financial services must reduce uncertainty
1. A mobile app should reflect the customer’s mental model
Customers do not think in terms of internal departments or legacy product structures. They think in tasks: apply for a card, check a transaction, understand a bill, or use a reward.
A successful app organizes the service around these needs. The AEON project shows that a clearer information architecture can make a complex organization easier to navigate without removing the breadth of its offerings.
2. Usability is closely tied to trust
In financial services, poor usability is not only inconvenient. It can make users question whether the service is reliable, secure, or capable of handling their needs.
Improving navigation, interface clarity, and feature performance therefore supports a larger business outcome: confidence in the institution. The experience becomes part of how AEON demonstrates its ability to serve customers responsibly.
3. Integration is valuable only when it simplifies the customer’s life
Combining consumer financing and credit card services in one application creates value when users can understand the relationship between them. Integration should not mean placing more features into one crowded environment.
The strategic test is whether the combined platform reduces effort. If customers can complete more tasks without switching channels or repeating information, the integration is meaningful.
4. Product architecture affects customer retention
Users are more likely to continue using an application when it remains reliable and relevant over time. A modular development approach can support this by making future improvements easier to manage.
Retention is therefore influenced not only by rewards or promotions, but also by the organization’s ability to keep the core experience useful. Technical decisions made during development can shape the customer relationship long after launch.
5. Digital transformation should connect service design and operational design
A better interface is only one part of a better service. The application must also work with the processes, technology, and support structures behind it.
AEON’s project demonstrates the value of treating a mobile app as part of the operating model. When the digital journey, technical foundation, and service strategy support one another, customers receive a more consistent experience.
Strategic Insights for the C-Suite
- Build digital services around customer tasks, not internal product lines. Customers want to apply, manage, check, and resolve issues with as little effort as possible. Organizing the experience around these actions can make a complex business feel simple and coherent.
- Treat usability as a trust-building investment. In financial services, confusing navigation or unreliable features can affect how customers judge the institution itself. A clear and dependable experience supports confidence beyond the individual transaction.
- Use integration to remove effort, not merely to add features. Bringing services into one application creates value only when customers can move between them easily. Every integration should be judged by whether it reduces repetition, channel switching, or uncertainty.
- Design the technology foundation for continuous improvement. Customer expectations and service requirements will change after launch. A modular, maintainable product structure gives the organization more flexibility to respond without repeatedly rebuilding the experience.
- Measure digital success through the full customer relationship. A successful launch is not defined only by availability or initial usage. Leaders should also consider whether customers return, complete tasks independently, trust the service, and rely less on avoidable manual support.
