Pre-approval card
Pemo is an all-in-one spend management platform for SMEs across the MENA region, with their card product at the heart of what they offer. To expand that ecosystem, I designed the pre-funded card, a new card type that lets companies load funds before spending happens.
COMPANY
Pemo
Role
Product designer
Problem statement
How can we help business owners prevent their employees spending all of their assigned budget?
Small and medium business owners are concerned that employees might spend their budgets too quickly. They want more control over how money is used and better visibility into each purchase so they can feel confident about where their funds are going.
Solution
A card with a built-in spending cap, and a clearer way to create it.
With the pre-approval card, business owners decide up front how much a card can spend, say for a team offsite or a supplier payment. Once that amount is used, the card stops. If plans change, they can top it up or lower it at any time. Adding a new card type to the old creation drawer would have made it even harder to use, so I also redesigned the whole flow into clear steps, where each card type only shows the fields it actually needs.
Research and analysis
Customer feedback
Featurebase data and conversations with existing clients kept surfacing the same theme: business owners wanted tighter control over employee spending. That feedback became the foundation for defining what the pre-funded card needed to do.
Competitor research
One of my main steps was reviewing what competitors had done and, more importantly, understanding why they made certain choices. I asked myself questions like:
What card types do other competitors have?
How do they differentiate between these cards?
Are there any card limits?
etc.
Key challenges
Money doesn't move from wallet to card
The wallet shows one total balance. Any card's spending comes straight out of it, not set aside like it would be with a top-up card.
Built for one card type
The existing card creation flow was designed around a single card type, so it needed a redesign to support the new one.
Time, Time, Time
The project was scoped to add a new card type, not redesign the whole flow. That left little room for the extra work the fix actually needed.
Design audit
With all the information we gathered, I realized that the current design wouldn’t support adding another card type without making things more complicated for the user.
User struggles
Too much information in a small drawer which make things overwhelming for the user
Hierarchy is complicated to understand
Not all actions are mandatory which isn't always as clear as it should be
Difference between card types isn't clear
No room for switching fields based on the card type selected
User flow
To keep the flow redesign moving, I mapped out the entire flow so we could spot opportunities to merge or separate sections, making the card creation process clearer and easier to follow.
Explorations
Exploration meant generating options, not jumping directly to solutions. I developed concepts across different levels of complexity so the team could compare them against time and resources, in order to make a clear decision.
Option 1: Similar structure
The simplest approach would be to build on the existing design and add another section. However, this ended up cluttering the interface and made the card selection process more complicated.
Option 2: Minor adjustments to existing drawer
By making small improvements, such as clearly separating card types through dropdowns, users would more easily understand the differences between each card and the benefits they offer.
Option 3: Create card flow overhaul
This would be the biggest change and require the most time, effort, and resources, but it would make the experience much easier to follow by organizing each card type into clear sections, each with its own flow.
Final solution
It quickly became clear that the only real option was to redesign the entire card creation flow from scratch. After aligning with stakeholders, everyone agreed this was the best path forward, especially as the existing flow was becoming increasingly complex.
Implemented improvements
A clear, step-by-step card creation flow
More space to explain each card type
Separate flows for each card type, showing only the necessary fields
Card labels are updated in real time, reducing confusion
A clearer card type selection, without relying on small subtext
Built-in flexibility to support future additions
More room to highlight and explain specific requirements
Important numbers
After redesigning the card creation flow and introducing the pre-funded card, key metrics improved. Completion rates increased, drop-offs decreased, and adoption of the new card type showed strong user interest.
13.84%
Adoption rate
(past 6 months)
90.87%
Activation rate
~510 AED
Average spend per card
(new card type)
Card design & Packaging
Together with a colleague, I led a brand refresh of Pemo's physical and virtual cards, rethinking the visual identity, card finish, and packaging so it finally felt like the brand it belonged to.
