Aug 28, 2025
Aug 28, 2025

Backbase design assignment

Joanne wants to give her 8 year old daughter Jessie pocket money and make sure she spends it safely.
Joanne wants to give her 8 year old daughter Jessie pocket money and make sure she spends it safely.
Mertcan Esmergül
mertcan.works

Main problem

Kids can make unsafe
purchases and may spend
money relentlessly.

Kids can make unsafe purchases and may spend
money relentlessly.

The challanges to solve

The challanges
to solve

01

01

How mom sends money to Jessie easily.

How mom sends money to Jessie easily.

02

02

How to track her spendings.

How to track her spendings.

03

03

How to educate Jessie about basics of finance in a fun & engaging way.

How to educate Jessie about basics of finance in a fun & engaging way.

04

04

How to protect Jessie from falling into unsafe purchases.

How to protect Jessie from falling into unsafe purchases.

Solution in 3 pillars

Solution in 3 pillars

Control and safety

Every purchase and balance update is instantly visible to Mom's account.

AI flags suspicious transactions, pauses them and waits for parent approval.

Parental Controls: toggle online/in-store/ATM access.

Teaching about finance

Fun finance lessons that adapt to kids’ age and learning level

Kids earn recognition (badges) for completing lessons.

Kids track progress in their savings jar, learning how small amounts add up to bigger amounts.

AI Companion for kids (MCP)

Nana AI agent: MCP integration can answer questions of the kid.

Explains complex things simply: “Your mom checks to keep your money
safe 😊.”

Provides daily tips and nudges: 'Want to save €1 today?'

The flows

Solution for control & safety (mom's view)

AI flags suspicious transactions and explains them simply to kids and parents.

Approval Flows: Suspicious transactions that gets flagged by AI wait for approval first.

Parental Controls: toggle online/in-store/ATM access.

Teaching about finance (kid's view)

Kids track progress in their savings jar, learning how small amounts add up to bigger amounts.

Gamified finance lessons: structured modules that simplify financial basics and adapt to kid's learning levels.

Achievements: kids can earn (badges) for completing lessons.

AI flags suspicious transactions and explains them in simple terms for both parent and child.

The payment only goes through once a parent approves it.

Nana the AI Companion

A friendly AI chat that helps Jessie understand about her money, learn safe spending habits and ask any questions about her account.
A friendly AI chat that helps Jessie understand about her money, learn safe spending habits and ask any questions about her account.
A friendly AI chat that helps Jessie understand about her money, learn safe spending habits and ask any questions about her account.
Nana AI companion is basically an MCP integration that provides context to LLMs. It connects data source of the bank to the LLM.
Nana AI companion is basically an MCP integration that provides context to LLMs. It connects data source of the bank to the LLM.
Nana AI companion is basically an MCP integration that provides context to LLMs. It connects data source of the bank to the LLM.

Metrics to measure

How to measure the
success of the product

How to measure the success of
the product

I would track

I would track

How often kids engage with AI for guidance

Completion rate for finance lessons.

Amount of transactions got flagged by AI and acceptance/rejection rates of it.

Drop in unsafe purchases after
parental AI intervention.

I would iterate on

I would iterate on

Designing custom icons & illustrations.

Researching about kid's finance habits.

User interviews with parents to learn
their needs & pain points.

Testing how kids and parents understand
AI’s fraud explanations.

Mertcan Esmergül
hi@mertcan.works

Thank you for listening.

Mertcan Esmergül
hi@mertcan.works