Redesigning the Repayment Journey with a Trust-First Approach
ROLE: Lead Product Designer
Company: Oakbrook Finance
TIMELINE: 1 Month
TEAM: Product, Engineering, Compliance and Operations
Oakbrook Finance, a fintech lending platform, faced a critical challenge: its existing card payment flow was unreliable and confusing, leading to high rates of failed one-off repayments. This directly resulted in increased customer arrears and ballooning support costs. A new, more trustworthy repayment journey was needed to address these issues head-on.
Summary
Oakbrook Finance’s one-off repayment flow was unreliable and confusing, leading to failed payments, increased arrears, and rising support costs. I led the redesign of the repayment journey, introducing a trust-first, step-by-step experience that guided customers through payments and reduced anxiety.
Key outcomes:
£376,000 in repayments processed within six months
37% increase in repayment success rate
28% reduction in support tickets
+1.5 point increase in post-payment CSAT
The Challenge: Building Confidence in Payments
Repaying a loan should feel straightforward, but the existing card payment flow caused confusion and stress. Customers were unsure if their payment had gone through, while support teams were overwhelmed resolving errors.
My goal was to create a seamless, trustworthy payment experience that reassured customers at every step while reducing operational burden.
Understanding Customers
I led a discovery phase combining qualitative and quantitative research:
Reviewed hundreds of support tickets to identify pain points
Analysed payment funnel data to see where users dropped off
Conducted interviews with five borrowers to understand concerns
Key insights from research:
Anxiety, not technical complexity, was the main barrier. Customers feared payments failing and losing control over their money.
Step-by-step guidance reduces uncertainty. Breaking the payment process into clear stages reassured users.
Clear communication builds trust. Microcopy explaining what happens next eased customer concerns and reduced support contacts.
Designing a Trust-First Payment Flow
Using these insights, I created prototypes that emphasized clarity, reassurance, and simplicity:
Step-by-step process: Users were guided through each stage, seeing exactly what would happen before taking action
Transparent handoff screens: Reassured users during bank connection and payment confirmation
Supportive microcopy: Changed generic messages like “Processing” to “We’re securely linking to your bank”
Iterative testing: Validated prototypes with users to ensure clarity and confidence
This approach transformed the repayment journey into a calm, predictable, and trustworthy experience.
Outcomes & Impact
The redesigned repayment flow delivered measurable benefits:
£376,000 in repayments processed within six months
37% increase in repayment success rate
28% reduction in support tickets
+1.5 point increase in post-payment CSAT
Customers felt more confident completing payments, while the operations team could focus on strategic work instead of troubleshooting failures.
Reflection
This project reinforced the power of trust-first design in fintech. By observing users, addressing emotional barriers, and embedding guidance throughout the flow, I was able to transform a stressful payment experience into one that was reliable and reassuring.
It highlighted that thoughtful UX can directly improve customer satisfaction, operational efficiency, and financial outcomes — turning a critical friction point into a positive touchpoint.