There are a lot of neo-banks out there, but not a lot of neo-banks like Experian Smart Money™.
In its first 45 days, Experian Smart Money™ had over 300k account opens and $8.5 million in account loads. We also had Travis Kelce before Taylor Swift did.
Here’s how we made it happen:
Identify the problem:
Unhappily banked users want freedom from overdraft and maintenance fees, plus modern benefits and credit-building solutions.
Create our solution:
A debit card and checking account from the credit experts that can help you raise your credit scores and get paid early—all with no fees or minimums.
Account onboarding: first iteration
Some UXR feedback and questions:
“5 minutes sounds like a long time to open an account. Will I even qualify for one?”
“Sliding through the benefits is tedious—I have to go to multiple pages to get info.”
“I know it was on the previous screen, but I can’t remember the name of the account.”
“I’m not sure if I’m ready to open an account yet, I just want to learn more.”
“How do I know if my money is really safe with Experian?”
“There’s a lot of info here and it’s kind of hard to remember it all.”
Account onboarding: second iteration
Simplify language and reduce cognitive load; account opening is fast and easy, and you don’t have to worry about eligibility
Avoid over-explaining simple benefits
Choose a single CTA that’s less committal and more action-oriented
Clearly communicate the name and product to encourage name recognition
Highlight safety and security aspects up front to build trust
Provide additional information on only the most important features, with a collapsible design so users can learn more only if they want to
Email strategy
Our strategy began with a series of exclusive invitations and evolved into a mix of marketing messages, account updates, and even a $1,000 sweepstakes. Our goal was to entice new users while prompting existing users into engaging more with their accounts. As the sole writer of every email, the stakes were high, but our numbers were promising:
32% open rate
13% conversion rate
Sent to about 15 million total users
Around 18,000 of the 300k account opens were from email alone
Push notifications
75 characters (the length of our pushes) sounds like a lot, until you realize that “digital checking account” is almost 1/3 of your total space. Plus, 75 characters is only about 12 words. Thankfully, I have a soft spot for brevity—and judging by the stats, our users do too.
Text sent to about 8 million users
Funnel conversion rate of 15.04%
70% login rate
