A new industry report has revealed that 71 per cent of Nigerians consider in app support on banking applications ineffective, underscoring persistent usability challenges in the country’s expanding digital finance ecosystem.
The report, titled State of UX in Financial Apps: Nigeria Report 2025, was released on Wednesday by Interswitch. It draws on surveys of hundreds of banking app users, alongside interviews and technical assessments guided by global usability standards, to evaluate how effectively financial apps serve customers in real time.
According to the findings, while digital banking adoption in Nigeria continues to grow steadily, improvements in customer support features within apps have not kept pace. Many users reported difficulty accessing timely and helpful assistance when problems arise, particularly during failed transactions or service disruptions.
Respondents cited unclear error messages, lack of real time guidance and complex navigation structures as key sources of frustration. The report noted that although routine services such as fund transfers generally perform well, functions including bill payments, airtime purchases and error resolution frequently expose weaknesses in user interface design.
Speaking on the findings, Executive Vice President, Group Marketing and Communications at Interswitch, Cherry Eromosele, said user experience has become the defining factor in digital financial services. “User experience is no longer a cosmetic layer in financial services; it is the product itself. As digital channels become the primary way people engage with financial institutions, trust, simplicity and reliability are what truly differentiate one platform from another,” she said.
Eromosele added that the study was designed to amplify authentic user feedback and provide practical insights for industry players. She explained that the objective was to help banks and fintech firms design platforms that customers genuinely understand, trust and find easy to navigate.
The evaluation applied established usability principles developed by consultant Jakob Nielsen, examining parameters such as system feedback, error prevention, consistency, flexibility and accessibility. While the report acknowledged improvements in areas like reliability and transaction transparency, it identified significant gaps in intuitive design and responsive support systems.
Interswitch stated that the findings are intended to guide financial institutions, fintech operators and regulators in strengthening Nigeria’s digital banking framework. The company emphasised that improving user experience is critical to building trust, deepening adoption and sustaining long term growth in the nation’s fast evolving financial technology landscape.