Welcome to design bytes, small stories and observations related to various domains of design. Today’s observation related to user interface design. I can recall that day very vividly. I was in urgent need of cash. I rushed to the ATM. Quickly pulled out my card and requested 40K in cash. What happened later was about why I did not get the money and how was I saved from the mess.
I had inserted my credit card in the ATM, instead of the debit. This is technically called a cash-advance transaction. It attracts a 2–3% flat fee on the amount being withdrawn, plus interest to be charged until repaid without the interest free-window period. An interest-free window period is the amount of time you get to repay your credit card when you do a swipe transaction. Had I swiped the card for 40K I would have got a 45 day period to return the money. But fortunately, the feature in the ICICI bank mobile app credit card interface came as a saviour. This is what I want to share.
So here’s the story. I rushed to the ATM and placed a request for 40k. The transaction is declined. It irritates me. When I have money in my account why did the transaction decline? I make a second attempt, again declined. I said to myself something is wrong. This is when I realised I was attempting the transaction with my credit card.
Why the cash request did not go through?
The credit card cash request did not go through because I had switched the feature ATM withdrawal ‘OFF’ on my ICICI mobile app credit card interface (See fig.1). So, if by mistake I attempt a cash transaction with my credit card it will not go through. A feature that saved my day. An intelligent and user-friendly feature mapping a latent need.
I had inserted my credit card in the ATM, instead of the debit. This is technically called a cash-advance transaction. It attracts a 2–3% flat fee on the amount being withdrawn, plus interest to be charged until repaid without the interest free-window period. An interest-free window period is the amount of time you get to repay your credit card when you do a swipe transaction. Had I swiped the card for 40K I would have got a 45 day period to return the money. But fortunately, the feature in the ICICI bank mobile app credit card interface came as a saviour. This is what I want to share.
So here’s the story. I rushed to the ATM and placed a request for 40k. The transaction is declined. It irritates me. When I have money in my account why did the transaction decline? I make a second attempt, again declined. I said to myself something is wrong. This is when I realised I was attempting the transaction with my credit card.
Why the cash request did not go through?
The credit card cash request did not go through because I had switched the feature ATM withdrawal ‘OFF’ on my ICICI mobile app credit card interface (See fig.1). So, if by mistake I attempt a cash transaction with my credit card it will not go through. A feature that saved my day. An intelligent and user-friendly feature mapping a latent need.