Rogers Bank · Fintech · Credit card application

Simplifying a credit card application

Rogers Bank's credit card application put every field on one long page, and applicants felt it. Working in a two-person design pod, I designed and iterated a guided 6-step flow that raised conversion from 78% to 87% in a phased beta.

RoleProduct Designer (IC): screens and flow iteration

Team2 PMs, 2 designers, 3 developers

Timeline4 months, late 2021 to early 2022

The redesigned application: an approval screen on a laptop beside the mobile upgrade offer step

87%conversion in the beta, up from 78%Rogers beta data

+23%customer satisfaction vs. the old flowCSAT survey

6guided steps instead of one long pageShipped flow

The tension: A dense, single-page form from a bank most applicants didn't recognize felt overwhelming and, to some, not quite legitimate.
The turn: We broke the form into six guided steps, placed the upgrade offer where it helps rather than confuses, and made identity verification work across devices.
Where it landed: Conversion rose from 78% to 87% and satisfaction by 23%, with eKYC as the biggest single driver.

Problem

A wall of fields from a bank people didn't know

The original application asked for everything at once: personal details, address, employment, finances and authorized users, all on one page with no sense of progress.

OverwhelmEvery field was visible at once, with nothing to say how much was left.

Drop-off22% of applicants who started never finished.

TrustApplicants were existing Rogers customers, but few knew Rogers Bank. A dense form from an unfamiliar bank read as untrustworthy.

The original Rogers Bank application: one long page of personal, address, employment, financial and authorized user fields — Before: the original application, every section on a single page.

Research

Working from the business's own data

Rogers' business analysts owned the research. They defined an "eligible users" cohort, existing customers selected by tenure, services and likelihood to apply, and their sentiment data pointed to two things: the form was overwhelming, and the bank was unfamiliar.

I studied how Wealthsimple, Neo Financial and Scotiabank structure multi-step onboarding. Segmenting an application sets expectations for how long it takes, shows progress as you go, and lets people gather what they need before they need it. That gave us three principles:

Cut cognitive loadSegment the form so nothing feels like a wall of fields.

Build brand confidenceIntroduce Rogers Bank as a real, secure bank along the way.

Keep the card in viewApplicants should always know which card they're applying for.

Exploration

Two decisions that shaped the flow

Where the upgrade offer appears

Rogers wanted the World Elite upgrade tied to the customer's profile at sign-in. We argued for triggering it at the income step instead. Applicants arrive expecting the Rogers Connections card, so an upgrade before they've started muddies which card they're applying for. Mid-flow, it lands as a reward for a qualifying income. Rogers agreed, and the offer now appears at step 4.

Terms and conditions without the wall of text

Legal needed applicants to be shown the full terms. We needed them not to abandon at a long legal scroll, especially on mobile, where most applications were expected. We put the terms in a contained, scrollable frame within the step: the full text is presented, which satisfied legal, but it no longer pushes the rest of the step off screen.

Solution

A guided application, six steps long

Each step shows progress and keeps a summary of the card on screen, so applicants always know where they are and what they're applying for.

Sign in, then skip what Rogers already knows

MyRogers sign-in screen — Applicants sign in with their existing MyRogers account.

Step 1 of 6: 'Great Raymond, you're eligible!' with an option to pre-populate name and address, and card features alongside — Step 1 offers to pre-fill their details, with the card's features beside it.

An upgrade offer, at the right moment

Step 4 of 6: an offer to upgrade to the Rogers World Elite Mastercard, with benefits and Yes or No thanks buttons — Step 4: once income qualifies, applicants see the World Elite upgrade, with a clear way to decline.

Identity verification that works across devices

eKYC adds a security layer for card delivery and can be completed on mobile or in-store. Applicants who start on desktop can finish on their phone without losing their place.

eKYC step 1 of 3: Front ID photo instructions with a Take Photo button — Clear instructions before the camera opens.

Camera view framing a sample driver's licence inside a capture box — A frame guides the capture.

Confirmation that the front ID photo was taken, then instructions for the back — Confirmation, then the next side.

Impact

More applicants finished, and trusted it more

Rogers ran a one-month beta, phased by cohort to match its target demographic. Conversion rose from 78% to 87%, and satisfaction rose 23% against the previous flow.

eKYC drove itThe old verification step was the biggest source of drop-off, especially when people switched devices mid-application. The new hand-off fixed that, and it was the part Rogers was most impressed by.

Slower, but trustedThe new flow took slightly longer to complete, but it felt like a real bank. The old form had left some applicants unsure they were dealing with one.

Reflection

Learning how enterprise work actually moves

This was my first enterprise client. Most of the work happened between teams: business analysts, PMs, executives and legal, each with different priorities.

The upgrade-offer decision only landed because we explained our reasoning in terms of the customer's understanding, not our preference. Clear communication between agency and client turned out to matter as much as the screens.