Hi there FinBuddy 👋
Welcome to our very own tone-of-voice guide.
It is a guide to how we communicate externally and internally. As this is a new guide, it will evolve as we grow. Please feel free to drop in any of your suggestions to improve it.
Not just a facade—It’s our ethos
The FinBuddy DNA, the buddy culture, inspires our tone of voice. As you’d have noticed, "buddy" is the most commonly used word among the team while we’re talking or messaging. It even springs up during investor and partner meetings.
The name "FinBuddy" signifies our commitment to being a friendly and reliable finance partner.
Most FinBuddies have worked or know each other well from past work associations, mostly in the fintech industry.
With a buddy culture and strong fintech expertise as our core, we now extend our ethos to our tone of voice guide.
Brand manifesto—Our pathos
FinBuddy’s brand voice in a nutshell:
Empathy always.
Higher intent.
Conversational and approachable.
Transparency through and through.
Empathy always
We will show empathy to our users in all moments, ranging from joyous to those of helplessness or rejection.
Our voice will be consistent, the tone will vary based on the moment.
How we deal with positive and negative moments will differ.
How to communicate in positive moments
Fun, humor, energy, and/or congratulation followed by a nudge towards growth.
e.g.: Hey buddy! Congratulations on finishing the course, Fundamentals of 3d Design 🙌 To keep growing, register for the Advanced 3d Design course.
Word choices to address user
buddy, bud, champ, pal, mate, my friend, amigo, partner, bro/sis.
Word choices to invoke excitement
Yayyy, Cheers, Fantastic, Bravo, Yipee, Awesome, Fantastic, Whoa, Woohoo.
How to communicate in negative moments
Recognize the problem, and offer solutions without sounding too cute or cheesy. Gracefully accept and apologize if the error is on our part.
e.g.:
Missing a repayment → Oh dear! The last repayment was missed. Don’t stress out, but make the payment right away to avoid any extra fees.
Course fee declined → We can’t pay for this course at the moment. Sorry about that. Check out again in a day or two or try another course.
Avoid emojis while dealing with negative moments. An exception is when the problem is trivial.
e.g. Username not recognized → What you entered is a cool spy name 😎 but not the right username. Try again pal!
Use of emojis
Emojis cheer up vanilla text. We use them to be more expressive, funny, and excited. We use them in addition to the text not as a replacement. Exceptions: 💯 for 100%.
We don’t want an overload of emojis but if one message needs two emojis for an extra kick, go for it 👍👍
e.g., You completed 5 courses in the past 2 months! Wow, mate, you’re on fire 🔥🤩
Emojis come in all skin tones.
As our users are in Asia, we either use the yellow skin color (neutral), light-brown, or dark-brown skin color (2 or 3).
Emojis come in all skin tones.
Similarly, we’ll use black hair instead of Caucasian hair.
Our preferred hair color is black instead of Caucasian because our audience is Asian.
When we need to use one with male or female, we use both.
e.g, Incorrect password → Your password is playing hard to get 🏃🏻🏃🏽♀️. Keep trying bud!
Higher intent
We don’t push our users to spend, we push them to grow.
We nudge them to take actions that will help them grow higher up on the financial ladder.
Spend now, pay later 🚫
Study now, pay later ✅
e.g.:
Now that you completed the Getting Started with Python course, it’s a great idea to take up Python Data Structures next.
Hey there 🖐 A buddy-ly reminder — If you repay in the coming week, we won’t charge you any interest.
Hey pal! As you finished three courses in Accounting, why not apply for some Bookkeeper jobs?
Conversational and approachable
We use casual language. It’s like talking to a friend out loud.
Replace formal with casual
It will be much faster with Singpass but you may do it manually → Use Singpass (it’s faster) or fill out a form.
Select the repayment plan that you prefer → Go for the one that’s best for you.
Sign the agreement with your digital signature → Digital signatures, easy peasy!
Simple instead of sophisticated word choices
Amount: Cash
Permit, Allot: Let
Earned Wage Access → Early payday
Withdraw: Cash out
No extra words
You’re eligible to borrow $500 → Get up to $500
Your loved ones need all the support. We will add an extra $10 free gift to your loan amount. → Tada! An extra $10 from your FinBuddy ✌️
We provide help to customers who can’t afford to pay for upskilling → We help customers upskill.
We made a decision to waive your late fee → We are waving your late fee.
Helpful instead of accusatory or dismissive
You entered the wrong username → That’s not it. Try again, buddy.
Change passive voice to active
Your course fee has been paid directly to the institute → Your course fee is on its way to the institute.
This bug will be fixed in the next update → We’ll fix this bug in the next update.
We are required by MAS to verify the identity of all our customers → MAS requires us to verify the identity of all our customers.
Real-time feedback and positive reinforcements when they do things right
Hang in there pal, just 2 more steps to go.
Transparency through and through
We show transparency in our processes and communication, even if that means owning up.
There won’t be any fees or charges that we’ll hide from our users.
We are upfront with interest rates, etc. We won’t leave any ambiguity and offer 💯 clarity.
e.g.,
We could not verify you. Please review the information and documents you provided.
Sorry, we can’t fund your course right now. Try again later.
As this is a new guide, it will evolve as we grow. Please feel free to drop in any of your suggestions to improve it.
