- Case Study — FinTechIncentive
Management Platform
A secure financial platform that simplifies the management
and payment of incentives to market research participants,
with integrated accounting, e-signatures, and multi-panel
administration.
04
User panels
50+
Screen designed
12
Months Development
07
Dedicated team
client
Criistal
France
Industry
Banking & Finance
Market Research
Platform
Web Application
Multi-panel SaaSt
Tech Stack
Angular
.Net
MySQL
PayPal
Ansible
- The ProjectCriistal needed a unified platform to replace fragmented manual processes.
The market research industry
compensates focus group and online
panel participants through incentive
payments. Before Criistal, these
payments were managed through
manual bank transfers, paper
invoices, and disconnected
spreadsheets — creating delays,
errors, and zero traceability. STEPS
was engaged to design and build a
comprehensive web platform that
centralizes participant onboarding,
payment processing, digital
document signing, accounting, and
compliance reporting under a single
roof. The platform serves four distinct
user roles through dedicated panels,
each with tailored dashboards and
role-based access controls. PayPal
integration enables automated
disbursements, while a built-in e-
signature engine eliminates paper
workflows entirely.
- ArchitectureFour Panels,
One Platform
System-wide configuration & oversight
- System configuration & global settings
- Platform analytics & usage reporting
- Audit logs & compliance monitoring
- User management across all roles
- Security policy & access control
- Analytics dashboard & reporting
administration
Day-to-day operations & financial processing
- Onboards and manages client companies on the platform
- Recruits and manages research participants
- Creates and oversees research projects from start to close
- Processes participant compensation payouts
- Manages discounts, invoices, and billing documents
- Each team member has individually assigned access, not everyone sees everything
client
Research project management & budget oversight
- Browses and follows active research projects their company is part of
- Views documents and participant groups linked to their projects
- Access to invoicing and extended settings is optional, enabled per company
- Controls what their team members can see and do on the platform
- Adds or removes team members from their company workspace
- Has visibility over their company’s active research projects
participant portal
Self-service for research participants
- Views their personal dashboard and participation status
- Manages their own profile and preferences
- Tracks their compensation history and payment status
- Receives notifications and updates about their studies
- Completely isolated; no access to any other participant’s data
THE PROBLEM
Manual Processes, Zero Traceability
THE SOLUTION
Unified, Secure, Compliant
We assembled a team of 7 to build a four-panel application designed around security (encryption, PayPal integration),
compliance (digital signatures, audit trails), and usability (real-time tracking, intuitive dashboards, meeting
management).
- CapabilitiesCore
Features
Payment Processing
PayPal integration, bank transfers, full transaction tracking and disbursement management.
Accounting Module
Invoice generation, budget tracking, financial reporting, reconciliation tools.
E-Signatures
Digital signing for contracts, NDAs, participant agreements. Fully paperless
Group Management
Create research groups, assign participants, track composition, bulk operations.
- The processFrom Concept
to Production
Requirements
Mapped payment flows, compliance needs, multi-role access patterns, and the security model across all four panels.
UI UX DESIGN
Designed 50+ screens across 4 panels. Secure-first design system with approval workflows and role- based dashboards.
Development
Angular + .NET + MySQL architecture. PayPal gateway integration, digital signature engine, Ansible deployment pipeline.
Security & Launch
Comprehensive security audit, end- to-end QA across all panels, encryption verification, production deployment.
- PRODUCTA Closer Look At The Platform
Data Encryption
AES-256 encryption at rest and TLS in transit for all financial data and personal information.
Digital Signatures
Legally compliant e-signature engine for contracts, NDAs, and participant agreements.
Role-Based Access
Four permission levels with granular controls, session management, and 2FA support.
Full Audit Trail
Every transaction, login, and data modification logged with timestamps and user attribution.
100 %
Digital Payments
0
Integrated Panels
STEPS delivered a platform that completely transformed how we manage participant incentives. The security architecture gave our clients confidence, and the digital signature system eliminated weeks of overhead.
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