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Canadia Bank 5.0

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Canadia Bank 5.0

Modernizing Cambodia's Largest and Oldest Bank for the Digital Era

Problem & Opportunity

Modernize the Largest and Oldest Bank, Keep Everyday Banking Running

The problem was a legacy app built on a webview (website inside the app) with messy, outdated screens, causing slow load and response times, users dropping off mid-task, especially during self-verification (E-KYC), and a weaker brand position against competitors who had already modernized their apps in today's mobile banking market.

The opportunity was to build a complete native experience from the ground up, rather than patching the old app, to modernize Canadia Bank, Cambodia's largest and oldest commercial bank.

Legacy Canadia Bank home screen, before the 5.0 redesign.

My Role & Team Structure

Senior UX/UI Lead

Led a five-person UX/UI team from concept to release.

UX/UI execution for Canadia 5.0
Hiring and building the UX/UI team structure
Owned the design system
C-level and management alignment on priorities and quality
Design quality across team work

Product Delivery Pipeline

Requirement
UX/UI
- Product
- Mobile
- Backend
QA
Release

UX/UI Team Structure

Senior UX/UI LeadMe

Senior UX/UI Specialist
- UX/UI Specialist
UX/UI Specialist
UX/UI Generalist

Goals, Constraints & Success Metrics

Modern UX Without Trading Off Trust

Success meant a native app people could rely on every day at the bank Cambodians have trusted longest and use at the greatest scale: modern enough to compete, careful enough for existing customers, and secure enough for the bank to stand behind.

Replace the old webview with native iOS and Android UX that stays as secure as the bank requires
Low learning curve for customers already on the app, including those who may be older and less comfortable with abrupt change
Match the clarity, speed, and polish expected in today's mobile banking market
Build a design system early so the team can ship consistent work faster after launch, not only at launch

Design System & Conventions

Scalable Foundations for Speed and Consistency

I defined shared terminology, repeatable banking flows, interaction states (empty, loading, error, success, default, focus, filled, selected), and reusable assets before feature work spread across teams. That kept design and delivery aligned, so teams fixed fewer mismatches and shipped consistent banking screens faster.

Shared Icon Library

Key Feature 1

Making Everyday Banking Clear and Engaging

Studied local and international mobile banking apps, then designed the everyday path: get set up, move money, understand it, and add optional CanaPoints play when customers want a little fun on top.

Welcome to Canadia Bank with activate and open account

01 / 07

Challenge: Core money tasks had to work before anything clever mattered
Approach: Benchmark local and international fintech, then streamline activation, verification, secret-word setup, and PIN creation
Outcome: Everyday banking stays reliable for real life

Key Feature 2

Making Banking Feel Personal

Designed personalization so customers can shape their banking home: background and elements, their profile picture, and cultural assets that match Chinese luck beliefs many users hold.

Lunar New Year home with Send Angpao banner

01 / 10

Challenge: Lunar New Year is one of the biggest cultural moments for Cambodian-Chinese customers
Approach: Design a Send Angpao flow: pick a cover, write a message, choose a recipient, confirm, and deliver a Lucky Angpao greeting
Outcome: Banking becomes part of how customers celebrate, not just a utility

Key Feature 3

Designing an App That Feels Truly Native

Designed the experience to use native iOS and Android behaviors: gesture-based interactions, cached assets, and biometric login, so banking felt fast and familiar instead of another webview wrapped as an app.

01 / 04

Challenge: Banking flows needed to feel fluent, not button-heavy
Approach: Design swipe, drag, and tap gestures into core interactions so users navigate and act without hunting for buttons
Outcome: Flows that match how people already use their phones, reducing friction at every step

Modernize Industry-standard clarity, speed, and polish vs market peers

4.3 / 100K+ Ratings and downloads across the App Store and Play Store

8 months Full native rebuild reached UAT with bank staff, one step before real customers countrywide

System Design system that keeps new work consistent

The Takeaway

Collaboration across teams is shipping efficiency, not just a soft skill. Clear direction, respect, and a motivated team move a tight banking timeline further than process alone.