From headache to growth driver: Swan’s localisation story
- Fewer translation complaints: Dropped from daily to just 1-2 per quarter
- Full localisation support: Across 8 languages
- Faster time-to-market: Localised content delivered in just two weeks
Swan provides European businesses with embedded banking solutions, enabling them to integrate accounts, cards, and payments into their products—without the need to become regulated financial institutions themselves.
- Localisation services
- Machine Translation Post-Editing (MTPE)
For Swan, local relevance is everything.
As a rising banking-as-a-service (BaaS) star, Swan thrives on empowering European businesses to embed seamless banking solutions. Geographic expansion was always part of the plan, but breaking into new markets posed a challenge: how to speak the language of local customers, literally and culturally, while meeting strict regulatory standards.
Their initial attempts at localisation left much to be desired. Translations felt clunky and disconnected and sometimes even missed critical nuances, making establishing trust with their audience difficult. Frustration mounted, and Swan knew they needed a better solution to move forward.
They needed subject matter experts and a reliable partner to help them enter new markets with confidence.
Enter Contentoo.
The challenge of expanding in Europe
With hyperlocalisation at its core, Swan had ambitious plans to expand across Europe.
For them, hyperlocalisation meant adapting content and UX to each market, tailoring products, and ensuring compliance with local regulations in each country.
As they moved forward, the complexities of delivering content that met these diverse local needs became increasingly apparent—especially in the highly regulated fintech industry, where subject matter experts are crucial to navigating compliance and market-specific requirements.
However, the complexities of delivering this localised content became increasingly obvious.
When Swan started working with Contentoo, the company was still in its early stages of expansion. At that point, Swan had just over 100 employees and was focused on building its presence in France, its first market.
The team lacked dedicated technical writing and documentation resources outside the marketing department, which added to its challenges.
Additionally, they didn't have a solid localisation workflow, leading to regular complaints about translation quality. As the company expanded into Germany, its first international market, these challenges became more pronounced.
Swan has grown to over 250 employees and successfully launched in three more countries. Contentoo continues to support its localisation and content needs at each step of its growth.
Swan needed to find a localisation partner who could deliver accurate, culturally resonant content that met the regulatory demands of markets across Europe.
Constance recalls the challenges with localisation before partnering with Contentoo,
“When we localised our website in German, it was traumatising. It was such a complicated experience. Not everyone understands the FinTech space well enough to localise it the way it should be.”
After this experience, it was clear that Swan needed experts who understood the intricacies of FinTech and could deliver content that felt authentic and trustworthy in each market.
However, they also needed to find a process that worked for them. During a pilot with Contentoo, Swan was matched with a team of experienced localisation experts.
“We assessed the freelancers’ agility and quality during the pilot. We needed to be sure they had the right background and experience”
The pilot project set the tone for what would become a strong partnership. Swan’s new team of experts consistently demonstrated high-quality output, delivering localised content efficiently, precisely and always on time.
Coley Woyak, Swan's Lead Technical Writer reflects,
“For me, it’s the freelance team, relying on a consistent group of freelancers to work on our localisation projects every time. They care about the end product. They care about our success. They take pride in the work that they do for us.”
Fast, accurate, and frustration-free localisation
Working with Contentoo helped Swan accelerate its market entry while maintaining high-quality standards. Using tools like Machine Translation Post-Editing (MTPE) and Contentoo’s platform meant a smoother process and faster turnaround times without compromising quality, relevance, or accuracy.
This was especially critical as Swan expanded beyond its initial market in France. After launching in Germany, they moved into three additional countries across Europe.
Initially, Swan began with marketing content localisation, but as the company grew, so did the scope of its localisation needs. Contentoo supported Swan through product localisation workflows, including adapting UX keys for its product and expanding into operational content, like support articles.
This broader scope ensured that Swan could provide a consistent, high-quality experience across all touchpoints. Coley reflects,
“Our support centre articles vary from 300 to 2,000 words. We publish in English and know they’ll be live in seven languages within two weeks.”
The improvements weren’t limited to timelines. Customers frequently complained about the quality of translations and technical terms, such as legal entity registration names and official document titles.
After implementing the new UX key workflows, complaints dropped significantly, from multiple complaints per week to just one or two per quarter.
One brand, many markets: keeping Swan’s voice consistent
Maintaining a unified brand voice across key markets is one of Swan’s top priorities. This is no easy task, especially when operating in five key markets—France, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, and Italy.
The Contentoo freelance team ensured that every localisation adhered to Swan’s tone, resonating with local audiences while preserving the company’s identity.
For Coley, it's all about the team's expertise:
I rely on the freelance team’s familiarity with our industry and business model for every localisation. I don’t know of a way that we could have the quality of support and the content that we have at this speed with a different workflow.
This consistency gave Swan increased confidence in continuing its expansion plans, knowing its message would be quickly and effectively localised for each region.
Building a partnership that drives growth
With our support, Swan turned localisation into a growth enabler.
The Contentoo customer team is always there, making the localisation process smoother. From project management to handling last-minute requests and adaptations efficiently, our team ensures Swan’s freelance team is always ready and up to speed.
Working with Contentoo drastically reduced complaints about translation errors and improved Swan's localised content overall quality and consistency. The collaboration enabled Swan to implement a more efficient process, supporting faster market entry and expansion.
Constance reflected on the domino effect of high-quality, localised content,
“There is a little bit of a domino effect. After you get a big client and social proof, other companies in that market will more easily recognise that they can offer that solution. So we did secure more Finnish clients after this.”
This success came after Swan translated its product for a Finnish prospect who then became a customer. Although Finland isn't one of Swan’s key markets, the domino effect of gaining this client helped Swan expand its reach in the region.
Now, Swan’s team has grown to 20 dedicated freelancers. Thanks to our excellent customer team and comprehensive platform, Swan consistently delivers high-quality, localised content that connects with its audiences.
With Contentoo by their side, Swan continues to expand into new markets and confidently drive growth. We’re proud to be a part of their journey.
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