Farm Credit Services of America

Revolutionizing the digital experience of agricultural financing for farmers across America.

Background

Farm Credit Services of America (FCSA) provides financing that helps agricultural producers sustain and grow their operations. In response to increasing financial uncertainty and a rapidly digitizing customer landscape, FCSA is pursuing a digital transformation focused on delivering a seamless omnichannel experience.

Challenge

New consumer expectations, economic pressures, and technological advances are driving change. Farmers and agribusinesses must rethink efficiency and sustainability to remain competitive, as well as having to face the challenge of policy compliance from their governments.

Solution

To combine their deep agricultural expertise and local presence with digital tools that give customers and internal teams easy access to financial and insurance products, along with data-driven insights for whenever and however they choose to do business.

Project Goals

  • Explore how trends in agriculture are impacting how farmers approach their relationships with financial institutions.

  • Understand evolving market trends and how they are shaping farmers' needs.

  • Identify where farmers turn for guidance on running their businesses, what types of content they find valuable, and how they engage with it.

  • Learn what adaptations are occurring due to sustainability practices, AI, the growing pool of younger farmers, climate change, and global trade.

Research Process

I began the process with secondary research, looking through annual reports, studies, other companies’ systems, as well as the database for FCSA.

Secondary Research

Raw data may form the foundation, but I needed to understand the bigger picture. Therefore, I decided to take a digital approach to ethnography to reach wider audiences. I extracted posts and discussions from apps and online communities revolving around the trade of agricultural equipment, the fear of technological advancements, and how younger farmers are balancing their education, income, community, and family expectations.

Netnography

I wanted to learn more about what else is out there; what can we learn from other companies and their tools? I conducted a competitive analysis of existing tools, organizations, and companies to understand more about what’s out there, as well as what’s missing.

Competitive Analysis

48%

Amount farmers are noting about price increases as the main risk factor, recognizing the increase of overall costs rose 13% within the last two years.

50%

Of farmers who think extreme weather is their top risk expect to spend about 30% more on agricultural purchases and were 50% more likely to buy or lease more land for preparation.

72%

Farmers facing said issues revolving around commodity prices are 3x more likely to use hedges and are more likely (72%) to use crop insurance to protect themselves.

18B

A suspected $18 billion in revenue is projected for 2024-2025 in regards to the booming growth of "AgTech."

Which companies will capitalize on this momentum and help shape the next era of agriculture?

“Farmers are increasingly prioritizing productivity. A shift toward operations-focused solutions underscores a broader trend in agriculture, where efficiency and sustainability are becoming paramount.”

- McKinsey & Company

Outcomes

As an ongoing project, there is a lot more to do. But here are just a few clear “wins” that has begun to revolutionize the world of agricultural finance…

  1. Enabled a more flexible, customer-driven integrated channel experience through research-led digital transformation.

  2. Matured the XD team’s research and design practices, positioning design as a strategic partner in organizational change.

  3. Established scalable design systems and customer experience artifacts that improved cross-team alignment and surfaced new growth opportunities.

Learning Opportunities

  • While working with FCSA, I had the opportunity to use Figma and Miro for the first time. I have applied it to my current projects, providing me with new ways to present findings and insights to my team.

  • Working in the financial sector, I was able to apply my background with the R language in order to interpret mass sets of data.

  • This was a unique project, due to the gap between those who use technology as a tool in their daily lives and those who rely on methods from generations back. Stepping back and listening to shared fears about the boom of the digital realm forced me to adjust my language and presentation in ways I wouldn't have thought otherwise.

“Innovative financial solutions are the next step in agricultural lenders’ sustainability journey.”

- Environmental Defense Fund