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Bills Payment
Smiles — Bills Payment Feature
● My Role
Product Designer
Period: 2023 Sept - 2023 Nov
Phase: 0-2
Problems
Online Survey
User Flow
UI Solutions
Iterative Validation
● About
Smiles Bills Payment helps users in Japan pay bills in Indonesia directly, making family support simpler, faster, and more convenient.
● Background
Smiles already helps international users in Japan send money to their families overseas. However, our research showed that sending money was often only the first step. Users still relied on family members or multiple services in Indonesia to complete everyday bill payments.
● THE STARTING QUESTION
What Happens After the Money Is Sent?
Sending money from Japan to Indonesia solved the transfer, but not the responsibility. Families still had to move funds again, open another service, and complete each payment themselves.
INITIAL QUESTION
How should we design Bills Payment?
BIGGER QUESTION
How might we help users manage their financial responsibilities back home with fewer platforms, fewer steps, and more control?
● The Problem
Supporting Family Was More Complicated Than It Needed to Be
01 — PROBLEM
Transfer to E-Wallet Issues
Sending money to e-wallets, especially DANA, involved confusing steps and often experienced transfer delays.
02 — PROBLEM
Multiple Apps Needed
Users often rely on multiple platforms or family members in Indonesia to complete bill payments.
03 — PROBLEM
Limited visibility Control
Users have limited visibility and control over how and when bills are paid, especially for loans such as blue-collar worker loans for going to Japan.
04 — PROBLEM
Transfer to donate demand
Many Indonesians in Japan are Muslim, yet lack a direct way to donate to Indonesian platforms like to Kitabisa or Dompet Dhuafa.
● Main Objective
Make Supporting Family Back Home Easier
By connecting different services through APIs, Smiles can bring bill payments, donations, gold investment, and loan repayments into one app, reducing the need to switch between multiple platforms.
● MARKET RESEARCH
First, Was This Even Worth Solving?
117,991
Primary worker segment
8,221
Professionals
22,084
Others
Source: e-Stat 2023. The primary worker segment represented the largest group in our analysis.
Market data told us who might need the product.
Research needed to tell us whether they actually did.
● RESEARCH
So I Asked the Users
Survey
● CAMPAIGN
200 Smiles Points Survey Campaign
150 respondents
Shared through Instagram · Facebook · TORI CHAT · WhatsApp Broadcast. The online survey tested demand, current behavior, friction, and adjacent opportunities.
Goals
The survey was conducted to better understand users' current behaviors, challenges, and needs related to bill payments.
Survey Result
Demand for Integration
Quantitative Evidence
150+
Survey Respondents
Necessity
42.8% Chose very Important
38.2% Chose imporant
19.1% Chose not really Important
Want to use
92.8%
Respondents are interested in trying if Smiles implements the service.
What are the biggest obstacles you face when
sending money for IDN Bills
Challenges
•
1. Complicated process as there is no bills payment feature/platform in Japan to Indonesia
•
2. already paid by parents or relatives
•
3. Already using a credit card
What Bills currently do you usually pay monthly
Needs
•
1. Education
•
2. PLN/Electrivity
•
3. Loan
•
4. Pulse/Internet
•
5. e-Wallet
•
6. BPJS/Health insurance
•
7. Water bill
•
8. Gass Bill
If there is Bills Payment Feature on Smiles,
what Bills interest you?
Needs
•
1. Gold
•
2. Ewallet
•
3. Pulse/internet
•
4. PLN (Electricity)
•
5. Ticket
•
6. BPJS (Health Insurance )
•
7. Education
•
8. Prepaid service
RESEARCH LIMITATION
The sample came from Smiles-owned channels and used an incentive, so it may overrepresent engaged users. I treated these results as a directional signal—not proof of future behavior or adoption.
● FINDINGS
The Signal Was Strong
92.8%
Interested
42.8%
Very Important
38.2%
Important
81.0%
Rated Important or Very Important
● DATA
92.8%
● INSIGHT
Users appeared interested in doing more.
● DECISION
Continue exploring Bills Payment.
● BUSINESS HYPOTHESIS
What Success Could Look Like
+30%
Estimated transaction growth potential
+20%
Target transaction volume increase within 6 months
+15%
Target registration increase
These were planning estimates and targets and not achieved results.
● KEY FEATURE
A Unified Financial Service Direction
After conducting the survey and exploring potential partners, we defined a unified financial service direction.
● INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE
One System, Not Six Products
DISCOVER
INPUT
VERIFY
REVIEW
PAY
CONFIRM
BILLS
Category → Biller → Account → Verify → Review → Pay
DONATION
Cause → Amount → Frequency → Review → Pay
GOLD
Service → Amount → Value → Review → Pay
LOAN
Provider → Account → Amount Due → Review → Pay
Once users understand one payment journey, the others should feel predictable rather than unfamiliar.
● User Flow
For the Bills Payment flow, we followed the existing flow provided by our partner, as the payment process was already standardized. My focus was on integrating this flow seamlessly into the Smiles experience, from entering the Bills Payment feature through payment completion.
● UI Decisions
Turning User Needs Into Everyday Financial Tools
Based on our research findings, I designed six key experiences to make everyday financial responsibilities easier to manage directly through Smiles.
01
ALL BILLERS
All Bills in One Place
Making everyday bills easier to find and pay without switching between different platforms. Designed a comprehensive and categorized directory layout optimized for fast discovery.
01
Find Bills Faster
Organize billers into clear, familiar categories so users can easily find the service they need.
02
Search the Service
Provide a simple search experience for users who already know which biller they want to pay.
03
Quick Access
Make frequently used billers easier to access for fast repeat payments using a Favorite overline.
02
AUTO PAY
Set It Once, Pay Automatically
Making recurring monthly payments easier to manage with less cognitive effort. Automated rules run quietly in the background, keeping families home-support systems active without direct supervision.
01
Choose to Automate
Let users select which recurring bill they want to pay automatically. Highlight frequent candidates.
02
Set Payment Schedule
Allow users to choose when the recurring payment should happen. Align with monthly salary dates.
03
Know How Much
Clearly show the scheduled payment amount before Auto Pay is activated to build absolute trust.
03
NOTIFICATIONS
Never Miss a Payment
Keeping users informed about upcoming bills, scheduled payments, and payment status. Built a dedicated bills dashboard that clearly splits current urgencies from calm upcoming notifications.
01
Upcoming Payment Reminder
Gently prompt users about an approaching regular bill to ensure their balance is ready.
02
Auto Pay Scheduled
Pre-emptively notify users before automated quiet deductions occur to maintain full system transparency.
03
Payment Successful
Instantly close the loop with a highly recognizable, affirmative confirmation state.
04
DONATION
Make Giving Easier
Making it easier for users in Japan to support verified humanitarian causes in Indonesia directly through Smiles. Engineered a compliant step-by-step donation pipeline integrated with major foundations.
01
Verified Organizations
Show clear trust branding and licensing to validate compliance for cross-border charity.
02
Donation Amount Entry
Offer both fast-click presets and custom field entry to minimize typing on mobile.
03
Make It Monthly / Recurring
Enable effortless regular support via simple toggles that tie into the Auto Pay system.
● PARTNERSHIP & FEASIBILITY
A Good Idea Still Has to Be Buildable
BILLS PAYMENT
Mandiri
Contact initiated
NDA Process
API Specs
IAK
Contact initiated
NDA Process
API Specs
Kiosbank
Contact initiated
NDA Process
API Specs
GOLD INVESTMENT
BRI
Contact initiated
Discussion
API Specs
DONATION
Dompet Dhuafa
Contact initiated
Discussion
API Specs
13 / OUTCOME
Expanding How Smiles Can Support Users
Bills Payment explored how Smiles could move beyond traditional remittance and become more useful in the everyday financial relationship between international users in Japan and their families back home.
BEFORE
"I need to send money so my family can pay this."
AFTER
"I can pay this for my family directly."
Note: Verified project metrics were not available at time of documentation. This case study focuses on the design process, product thinking, and business feasibility work.
● EVIDENCE
Survey Interest ≠ Product Adoption
152
Survey Responses
92.8%
Interested
81.0%
Rated Important or Very Important
WHAT WE KNOW
● Strong stated interest
● Relevant payment needs
● Multiple financial responsibilities
● Clear research direction
WHAT WE DON'T KNOW YET
○ Actual adoption
○ Payment completion
○ Repeat usage
○ Auto Pay adoption
○ Retention impact
○ Transaction growth
Bhaswara Maralaut
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