Argos
A retail payment platform used by more than 1M+ customers
From store card to mobile platform
Argos Financial Services (AFS) is the retail banking and credit division of Argos, managing store cards, credit cards, loans and insurance products. With more than 1.5 million Argos store card customers spending over £700 million annually, AFS wanted to make account management easier — giving customers a simple way to manage their credit, make payments and access their benefits.
Argos turned to Apadmi to help. The result was the My Argos Card app: a mobile platform that has transformed how customers manage their accounts. The app has been downloaded more than 1 million times and now has 500,000 monthly active users, making it a major payment channel for the business.
The partnership evolved over a decade. Most recently, Apadmi worked with AFS to make the app more accessible, helping ensure customers could manage their accounts independently as the business moved away from its web portal.
Building for a complex financial environment
Creating a seamless mobile experience meant connecting new technology to complex legacy systems in a highly regulated financial environment. The app needed to make account management and payments simple for customers without compromising security or reliability—all while not losing sight of the user experience.
It quickly became a valuable channel for both customers and the business. More than 80% of Argos store card customers adopted the app, while digital statements and vouchers reduced paperwork and calls to customer services. The platform also helped reduce fraudulent activity.
Results
The impact was clear across customer adoption, transactions and security.
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+66%
transactional value
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-72%
fraudulent activity
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30K
registrations per month
Everything customers need in one place
A single mobile platform brings together the everyday tools customers need to manage their Argos account, make payments and access added benefits, all in one simple, secure experience.
Account management
Customers can view and manage their Argos store card account, adjust credit limits, and access their balance and transaction history, all in one place.
Payments
Seamless, secure in-app payments, supported by robust integration with complex legacy financial systems in a highly regulated environment.
Customer benefits & loyalty
Exclusive offers, vouchers, and benefits delivered digitally, giving loyal Argos card customers a clear reason to engage with the app regularly.
Digital statements & receipts
Vouchers and statements delivered digitally, reducing paperwork and cutting calls to customer services, a meaningful operational saving from day one.
Removing accessibility barriers for every customer
As Argos Financial Services planned to retire its web portal and transition all users to the mobile app, ensuring the app was accessible to every customer was non-negotiable, particularly in light of the European Accessibility Act (EAA).
Initial conversations between Apadmi and Argos Financial Services revealed that while the app posed potential challenges for those with accessibility needs. The move away from web also raised questions around why some users had yet to migrate to the app, and whether accessibility barriers were playing a role in limiting adoption.
To remain truly inclusive and compliant, AFS recognised the opportunity to improve the accessibility of the mobile experience and ensure that all customers could manage their accounts independently and confidently.
Redesigning around real user needs
Apadmi worked with AFS to redesign and retrofit the app, keeping the familiar experience while removing accessibility barriers.
From the first sprint, accessibility was embedded into both the redesign and future feature development, ensuring that it was no longer treated as an afterthought, but as a core part of how the app was built and maintained.
As part of this process, key navigation elements were redesigned to be more intuitive, layouts and touch targets were adjusted to meet accessibility standards, and screen readers were enabled to interpret every step of the user journey correctly.
A new Direct Debit journey was built from scratch with accessibility in mind and used as a benchmark for retrofitting the rest of the app. Small interface changes, such as simplifying the menu structure or offering multiple ways to input data, were carefully tested to ensure they enhanced accessibility without disrupting the user experience.
Key improvements included:
A more inclusive platform
By removing usability barriers, Argos Financial Services ensured users were able to transition from the retiring web portal to the app, growing their mobile user base and reducing pressure on other service channels.
The app is now fully aligned with WCAG 2.1 AA standards across supported devices. These changes have helped ensure Argos Financial Services remains compliant in a highly regulated sector, while also setting a higher benchmark for digital accessibility in financial services.
“Expert Guidance”
“Making our digital products accessible to all our customers is incredibly important to us at Argos Financial Services, and Apadmi’s mobile experts have been crucial in allowing us to better achieve this. The team, from QA to design to development, are clearly passionate about accessibility, and this has shown up in their attention to detail and their expert guidance throughout the process.”
– Ben Oilberg, Head of Proposition, Argos Financial Services
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