Credit Card Application Redesign - U.S. Bank

With the Cloud Apply platform implemented, we had experience updates to make. With credit cards being one of the most popular and profitable products, redesigning the credit card application was at the top of the list.

Intro

“Our current experience is outdated, unintuitive, and takes too long".”

Problem statement

  • Agile

  • Design Thinking Process

Process

  • Me - Design Lead, Lead Designer, Research

  • Content Strategist

  • Accessibility Partner

  • Research Partner

Team

  • +5-7% submit rate - conversion rates driven from industry benchmark of ~54% up to ~59-61%.

  • 2-5 minutes - time to complete applications was drastically reduced to below two minutes for existing customers and below 5 minutes for new customers.

  • New feature/functions added - created new virtual card with immediate access to credit line for customers to use before getting their physical card in the mail.

Key impacts & results

Empathy

“Our current experience is outdated, unintuitive, and takes too long”

  • Customer Frustration: Customers were frustrated with the lengthy and unnecessary information required for a credit card application.

  • Inefficient Process: The application process was lengthy and lacked modern features and functionality.

Legacy experience on legacy platform

Define

  • Project Goal: Provide customers with a quick and easy application experience.

  • Key Partnership: Collaborate with risk and legal partners to ensure customer security and trust.

  • Customer Needs: Customers desire a secure application process, minimizing unnecessary information, and access to modern features.

Redefining our problem statement

Ideate

Generating great ideas that lead to an optimal solution

  • Customer Experience Goal: Create a safe, quick, and easy experience for customers.

  • Information Reduction Strategy: Assessed necessary information, leveraged existing customer data, and obtained approvals to remove input fields.

  • Streamlined Application Process: Existing customers were required to complete only four fields for application submission.

Prototype

Plans and approvals in place! Let’s create.

  • Customer Preference: Card imagery is important to customers and excites them.

  • Competitive Advantage: Modern features and functionality, such as ILA, are necessary to satisfy customers and stay ahead of competitors.

  • ILA Functionality: Allows customers to access a portion of their approved credit line digitally before receiving their physical card.

Desktop experience of the first page of the application.

Desktop and mobile experience for the Approved page, showcasing the customer that they’re approved, what their full credit limit is, as well as what their ILA limit is.

Test

  • User Testing Outcome: User testing was successful, requiring only minor tweaks to the experience before launch.

  • Post-Launch Performance: Multiple experiences were completed in approximately two minutes, with conversion rates increasing significantly (54% to 58-60%).

Testing success