Product Thinking Podcast, Episode 253

Title: Intelligent Friction in Digital Banking with Tony Brancato
Air Date: October 22, 2025
Host: Melissa Perri
Guest: Tony Brancato, Chief Product Officer at Charlie Financial

Episode Overview

This episode explores how building successful digital banking products for seniors requires more than just technical proficiency—it involves re-thinking user experience, security, and organizational support. Tony Brancato, Chief Product Officer at Charlie Financial, discusses his journey, the challenges of designing for older adults, and how "intelligent friction" can become a core feature rather than an obstacle in fintech. The conversation highlights the importance of empathy, research, and tight feedback loops in product management, especially for vulnerable demographics.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Tony Brancato’s Product Journey

• Tony started as a sleep researcher before being drawn into tech during the “first web boom.”
• His career spans impactful product roles at Everyday Health, Patch, Time Inc., The New York Times, Amazon/IMDb, and now Charlie Financial.
• Mission-driven roles have shaped his approach: “My entrepreneurial journey really started at a company I co-founded called Everyday Health...we can build things that actually have a positive impact on people's lives.” (03:02)

2. Designing for Seniors: Unique Needs & Opportunities

• The senior market is growing rapidly: “10,000 people a day retiring in the United States.” (05:02)
• Seniors face unique challenges: living on fixed incomes, constant threat of fraud, and digital accessibility.
• Products for this group focus on essentials. For example, the Charlie Card allows personalization with photos of grandkids or pets, and Charlie Saver compiles all senior discounts: “We built the most comprehensive senior citizen discount database, I think, on earth...it's just an opportunity for us to build trust.” (05:48)

3. Functional & UX Considerations for Older Users

• Product features and user experience must be hyper-focused and simplified.
• Differences within age ranges are significant: “A 62-year-old...much closer to a digital native...75-year-olds love [Fraud Alerts Co-pilot]...62-year-olds totally ignore it.” (07:28)
• The approach: curate and optimize “the 10 Lego pieces” instead of overwhelming users with features. (07:52)

4. Empathy, User Research, and Overcoming Shame

• Deep research dispelled assumptions, e.g., seniors did not want video calls with bank staff.
• Fraud consistently emerged as a core concern among users, but feelings of shame and embarrassment often impeded open conversation.
• “If you can give people the sense that...they’re doing a service to their fellow 62+ community members...that’s what helps people open up.” (11:20)

5. Fraud, “Intelligent Friction,” and Feature Design

• Traditional fintech maximizes speed by eliminating friction, which benefits users but also enables fraud.
• “We think friction isn’t just a helpful part of the experience, it’s actually an essential part...intelligent friction is what we really designed fraudshield around.” (13:05)
• Key Features:
  • Sleep Mode: Temporarily disables the card for all but recurring transactions (14:10).
  • Online Transaction Blocking: Customizable to allow only certain online retailers (Amazon, Walmart). (15:15)
  • Speedbump: Delays large/new money movements, introduces education, and enables users to undo transactions if scammed (15:35).
• “That’s strategic friction. The customer has to participate...but that also makes them feel like they’re in control.” (14:40)

6. Human Support Integrated with Digital Experience

• Seniors value phone support; the call center is a core pillar at Charlie.
• Tony’s org structure intentionally places product management and the call center closely together to ensure rapid feedback loops:
  “Our product managers and designers are just listening to calls all the time...that keeps us grounded.” (18:22)
• Daily review of CSAT scores; support experience helps inform the product backlog and team training.

7. Building Empathy and Embedding Customer Connection

• All team members commit to deep personal empathy (e.g., testing with their own relatives).
• “We just block off time...even if it’s just 30 minutes a week...baking it into our rituals is really important.” (19:20)
• Engineers are included in feedback loops to maintain customer context.

8. Alternative Channels & Accessibility

• Simplicity is vital: focus on minimal, clear features.
• Many users interact primarily via text; the app’s major functionality is accessible through SMS.
• “The vast majority of our customers are very comfortable texting...that’s been the real bridge between functionality in the app and what’s actually happening to them in their day to day lives.” (21:43)

9. Measuring Success Beyond App Usage

• Traditional metrics (DAU, feature adoption) are augmented by CSAT, reviews, and especially the ratio of blocked vs. successful transactions.
• "Ultimately, the financial health of the customer...are they able to successfully recognize when they are getting scammed?" (23:29)
• Charlie also provides educational content—newsletters, quizzes, and resources for family members to encourage prevention and discussion.

10. Involving Family and Referral Loops

• Younger family members are often key influencers: “If you convinced me you were trustworthy, I’d make my mom sign up for your bank.” (25:47)
• Programs like Family FraudShield help facilitate difficult conversations about finance between generations.

11. Designing with Respect—Not Limiting Capability

• Melissa shares frustrations with other tech platforms that “dumb down” functionality for seniors, often removing genuinely desired features (e.g., photo zoom) (28:12).
• Tony: “A lot of...people targeting this demographic...talk down to them...For me personally, it’s been eye-opening how technically sophisticated some retirees are...they’re, in many cases, just on the bleeding edge.” (29:11)
• Product must work across a wide spectrum—from highly technical seniors to those with old devices and no internet access.

12. Surprising Findings from Senior Users

• Many seniors adapt well to digital-only banking; some come from other digital-first brands (Chime).
• A challenge is how active and trusting seniors are on social media, making them vulnerable to scams and romance fraud:
  “You can’t just say that’s dumb...you have to calibrate...it's probably not Elon Musk that you're dating on Facebook.” (31:48)

13. The Roots of Trust and Fraud Vulnerability

• Social platforms breed trust—when something appears to come from friends, it is often believed.
• The loneliness epidemic amplifies vulnerability to scams: “A lot of people just want to have friends...that’s been a much more effective tool for stickiness on those apps.” (33:55)

14. Staying Ahead in an Evolving Threat Landscape

• AI scams are proliferating; Charlie uses AI for fraud detection but is cautious introducing it to customer interfaces.
• “It’s our job to stay one step ahead of the fraudsters...our moms and dads also reporting...has built up a pretty steady stream of information.” (34:25)

15. Advice for Product Managers

• “Find a pathway to empathy as quickly as possible. Whatever product you’re building, you need to have empathy for the users...Anytime I did that as a young PM, I always built better products.” (35:46)
• The importance of feedback loops and avoiding solution-centric thinking.

16. Recommended Resources

• Books:
  • Inspired by Marty Cagan
  • Product Management for UX People by Christian Crumlish

“Calibrating Product Management and UX is just one of those crucial touch points.” (36:54)

Memorable Quotes

• “We think friction isn't just a helpful part of the experience, it's actually an essential part...intelligent friction is what we really designed fraudshield around.”
  — Tony Brancato (13:05)
• “I think the most important thing out of the gate is to make people feel like they're not alone. My mom was scammed. And that's like one of the first stories I take out of the gate.”
  — Tony Brancato (11:11)
• “Every dollar that's lost is a dollar that person needed.”
  — Tony Brancato (18:30)
• “They think about [tech for seniors] when...they have a lot of parental controls for children, but they're not thinking about the elderly parents.”
  — Melissa Perri (26:42)
• “It’s a war that we’re in right now...It’s our job to just stay one step ahead of the fraudsters.”
  — Tony Brancato (34:22)
• “You can't just say that's dumb...you have to carefully tread because you want to respect the genuine emotion.”
  — Tony Brancato (31:27)
• “Find a pathway to empathy as quickly as possible...Anytime I did that as a young pm, I always built better products.”
  — Tony Brancato (35:46)

Important Timestamps

| Segment | Timestamp | |-------------------------------------------|-----------| | Tony's Career Journey | 02:48 | | Senior Demographic Needs & Discounts | 05:02 | | Functional Design Differences by Age | 07:15 | | Empathy & User Research | 08:56 | | Handling Shame & Fraud Conversations | 11:07 | | FraudShield & Strategic Friction | 13:05 | | Sleep Mode Explained | 14:10 | | Speedbump and Fraud Scenarios | 15:35 | | Support and Product Team Integration | 16:43 | | Accessibility via Text | 21:17 | | Measuring Success & Customer Health | 23:14 | | Younger Family Member Involvement | 25:17 | | Tech Frustrations: Designing for Respect | 26:42 | | Surprises in Senior User Research | 30:18 | | Social Media Trust & Scam Vulnerability | 31:27 | | Fighting Next Gen Fraud | 34:22 | | Empathy and Product Management Advice | 35:46 | | Recommended Books | 36:46 |

Tone & Final Takeaways

Tony Brancato’s passion for mission-driven products and empathy shines through in a conversation both practical and heartfelt. The central lesson: great product management for vulnerable users isn't about constraint, but about understanding, empowerment, and sometimes, well-placed friction to keep people safe. Whether you work in fintech or any product space, this episode contains universal lessons in research rigor, thoughtful feature design, and putting users’ actual needs first—even when those needs upend conventional wisdom.

[End of summary]