A/B Testing with Bankers: 

There was a unanimous vote for Mockup B as the better experience. Although stakeholders were shying away from the idea of multi-account funding for MVP 1, one of our bankers made an excellent point as to why doing so would streamline the whole process:

”Anytime you are doing something with a customer who is unsure about a product or how to build credit…People are a little shy of it. They're scared of it. So, anything that you can do to remove that, to make the process easier, more comfortable for the customer, the better it's going to be. If we have to say, ‘Let's do another transaction, let me have you fill out this withdrawal slip, or let me have your ID again so I can do a transfer in the system.’ You're adding extra steps into something that may be already a little confusing for the customer.”

- Customer Experience Banker III, Steve

Interviews with Users

During interviews, users were given a presentation on the benefits, functionalities, and upkeep of a credit card. Most customers understood the concept of a credit card, but got confused when they realized there was a difference between a ‘regular’ credit card and a ‘secured’ credit card.

From a content strategy perspective, it was crucial for users to understand that a secured credit card functions no differently. The only difference is your security deposit serves as your credit. Since the security deposit is their money, they can get it back should they choose to pay off and close their account. I demonstrated by example with the following slide:

Creative Process 

Challenge

“I was never taught how to manage money; I don’t have enough money for banks to care about me.”

Persona

The Huntington® Secured Credit Card was targeted for users that were categorized under the ‘Aspirer’ persona; individuals who feel unsure, shameful, or resentful towards money. Money often dictates their lives and serves as a constant reminder of their struggles. Users who fall under this persona are likely to have lower financial literacy and tend to believe that banks only care about customers with large sums of money. Users in this category have guidelines to keep in mind during strategizing content:

• Where to start and how to avoid making mistakes.

• Show me progress, no matter how small.

• Do more so I can do less.

• Educate me on my options.

Credit card myths to debunk during content strategy :

1. A secured card is not like a prepaid card.

   Ex: “It kind of feels like you might as well be using a prepaid card from Walmart or something.”  ​ –Fred

2. Your security deposit is what keeps your card going around; it’s what sets a secured credit card apart from a traditional credit card.

   Ex: “I’ve never heard anything about getting your security deposit back at any time. If it’s a credit card why would you give a deposit?”​ -- Jill

3.   A secured card is designed to help you, not hurt you.

   Ex: “It seems like this card is a bit more of a ‘gotcha’ type of card. It may have some hidden expenses that I didn’t know in the first place” – Krishna

Myth #1

Prepaid Card vs. Secured Card

A prepaid card is more like a debit card, except it cannot be linked to a bank account; it needs to be loaded with cash manually.

A secured card is a credit card. After a credit check is run, if approved, users will be given a credit limit range. After deciding their credit limit, users can use the card to make purchases, pay off bills, and build their credit.

Myth #2

Your Security Deposit = Your Money

“Show me where to start and how to avoid making mistakes.”

The “How Funding Works” section is designed to clearly and concisely explain the secured card application and the card’s functionality.

This section also emphasizes the importance of their security deposit. It serves as their credit limit and when used properly, will allow them to build their credit and upgrade to a traditional credit card.

After users choose a credit limit, they’ll fund that in the form of a security deposit. This security deposit is their money, funded by a Huntington account or an account from another bank.

Myth #3

We’re here to help.

Throughout my content strategy process, it’s humbling to remind myself of the audience I’m writing for. The practices of UX and writing require empathy and understanding. My tone needed to align with the financial demographic, age range, and company voice. In the case of the Huntington Secured Credit Card, I was writing for a lower-income financial demographic, between the ages of 18-45, who needed professional guidance on how to establish, strengthen, or rebuild their credit score.

To ensure functionality, I needed to clearly let customers know what their options were. An example of this can be demonstrated in the “Choose an account” section. Unfortunately, the option of multi-source funding did not follow through with stakeholders for MVP1. I compensated for the lack of a better experience with my approach towards single-source funding. Some content strategy highlights from this section include:

“Show me progress, no matter how small”

• Progress bar to show where they are in the application, and “Next” text to forecast coming pages.

• Verbiage to reinforce the users autonomy.

“Do more so I can do less”

• Display all the users account balances to avoid inducing uncertainty or stress during the application process.

• Create an experience for both internal funding and external funding.

“Educate me on my options”

• Highlight accounts with sufficient funds by displaying the account name, last 4 digits, and account balance.

Takeaways & Conclusion

The Huntington® Secured Credit Card was a project that showed me the importance of incorporating content strategy during user research. This project involved interviewing employees internal to our company as well as customers. Asking content strategy-related questions to both parties gave me a well-rounded understanding of our users; bankers have the most interactions with customers and were able to tell us common thought patterns and knowledge that customers have.