Chase Pay Monthly
An off-card Buy Now Pay Later for Chase Travel
Making travel dreams affordable through contextual financing
Context
BNPL financing for travel purchases is projected to reach $1.2 trillion by 2030. Chase's Alternative Lending team identified this as a strategic opportunity to expand lending products while differentiating the Chase Travel platform in a competitive market.
The task: design an off-card BNPL product that would drive bookings, increase cart values, and originate new loans—while aligning with Chase customers' expectations for premium financial products.
How might we enable Chase customers to book dream trips by integrating contextual, savvy financing options into the Chase travel experience?
High travel costs force customers into a false choice: delay travel or compromise on experiences. Traditional payment options, such as pay in full or point redemption, don't address the reality that many customers want flexibility without sacrificing their trip.
The core challenge: seamlessly integrate a BNPL solution that drives conversion while communicating a complex, unfamiliar product. Unlike typical BNPL offerings, Chase Pay Monthly carried interest, fees, and a fluctuating final payment—requiring transparency without overwhelming users.
Uncovering the "Debt Comfort Zone"
Through 1:1 concept testing with nine installment variations, we validated demand for travel financing within Chase's ecosystem. One insight reshaped our entire approach:
Customers evaluate financing through a personal “debt comfort zone,” rather than total purchase price alone
This mental threshold—unique to each customer—influenced willingness to adopt installments, sensitivity to interest rates, and expectations for transparency. It became the foundation for product definition, audience targeting, and information hierarchy.
When Springfield Wins
Springfield is chosen when it helps customers manage stress from high travel costs and competing financial priorities. The product resonated most with debit-heavy users who prioritized predictable payments over earning points and were willing to trade rewards for financial control.
Scope & Ownership
My teammate, Susie, and I owned the loan management experience, focusing on the details screen, which served as the central hub for information.
Our responsibility was to communicate a complex and unfamiliar offering clearly. Unlike typical BNPL products, Chase Pay Monthly was interest-bearing, fee-bearing, and featured a final payment amount that could fluctuate due to accrued interest.
Three Rounds of Research
Our research process was structured to move from foundational understanding to refinement, with each phase building on insights from the previous.
Round 1: User Need and Preference Exploration
Method: Concept Testing
For this round of testing, we focused on understanding customers' perceptions of the loan management experience. Our goal was to refine the user experience by aligning the page with customer expectations.
Round 1 Learning Objectives
- Travel Association: How closely do customers link their loan to the trip context?
- Information Hierarchy: What’s the right altitude for payment details?
- Preparation Needs: What helps customers prepare for upcoming payments?
- Visualization Comprehension: Do data visualizations clarify or clutter?
We looked at BNPLs as well as auto loan and mortgage experiences to understand the core elements users expect. Our biggest challenge was communicating payment schedules and interest accrual, since that’s where our product differed most. These early sketches capture how we began shaping those key components.
From there, we designed four concepts of the Details page to determine the ideal altitude a customer wanted to view their Springfield loan.
After evaluating the four concepts, customers engaged in a buffet-collaging exercise, comparing the UI at the component level and assembling their ideal loan details page.
Round 1 Findings
- Travel Association: Displaying travel details reinforced loan purpose and helped build excitment for trip
- Information Hierarchy: Dense numeric displays overwhelmed users; prioritization was critical
- Preparation Needs: Due dates and payment amounts mattered most; source account visibility built trust
- Visualization Comprehension: Charts and graphs added cognitive load without improving comprehension
Round 1 Learning Objectives
- Travel association: How closely do people associate their loan with their travel details?
- Content expectations: What level of detail do customers expect to find on the details page?
- User-need anticipation: What information helps customers prepare for upcoming payments?
- Visualization assistance: Do data visualizations aid interest and loan comprehension?
Round 1 Findings
- Travel association: Displaying travel details effectively reminds customers of their loan's purpose and builds excitement for their trip
- Content expectations: While details are important, an overload of numbers can overwhelm users
- User-need anticipation: Clear due dates and payment amounts are crucial; customers value the ability to view the source account
- Visualization assistance: Data visualizations did not enhance comprehension and added to information clutter
We first looked at BNPL, auto loan, and mortgage experiences to understand the core elements users expect. Our biggest challenge was communicating payment schedules and interest accrual, since that’s where our product differed most. These early sketches capture how we began shaping those key components.
From there, we designed four concepts of the Details page to determine the ideal altitude a customer wanted to view their Springfield loan.
After evaluating the four concepts, customers engaged in a buffet collaging exercise where they compared the UI at a component level and assembled their ideal loan details page.
IMAGE PLACEMENT
Round 2: Design and Interaction refinement
Method: A/B Testing
In our second round of research, we tested two versions of the details screen, guiding participants through scenarios of on-time payments, late payments, and partial payments. Our goal was to validate which approach better supported product comprehension and payment management.
Round 2 Learning Objectives
- Customization Value: Does plan naming improve loan identification?
- Progressive Disclosure: When do users need tooltips and expandable details?
- Mental Models: Do customers understand how payments affect future interest?
- Edge Case Handling: How do we communicate late fees and overpayments?
Version A
- Emphasis on visual cues to enhance customization (i.e. iconography)
- "Subway style" payment tracker prioritizing next and last payments
- Hiding completed payments
Version B
- Emphasis on content (i.e. ability to customize plan name)
- Payment tracker prioritizing completed payments
- Inclusion of tooltips and an interest calculator
IMAGE PLACEMENT
Round 2 Findings
- Customization Value: Plan naming and the inclusion of trip dates were essential for multi-loan scenarios
- Progressive Disclosure: While the page felt intuitive, customers expressed a need for faster access to key details in edge cases
- Mental Models: Customers appreciated the inclusion of tooltips and an interest calculator, which aided in understanding product structure
- Edge Case Handling: Visual tracking resonated, but customers wanted supplementary payment breakdowns
Round 3: Usability and Comprehension Evaluation
Method: Usability Testing
In our final round of research, we focused on usability testing to ensure the details page met customer needs and expectations. This phase aimed to observe user behavior, assess content comprehension, and evaluate the understanding of payment hierarchy and final payment impact.
Round 2 Learning Objectives
- Observe behavior: Identify additional information or features customers might need when navigating different scenarios
- Content comprehension: Evaluate whether customers comprehend key terminology and tooltip content
- Payment hierarchy: Determine if customers understand the payment hierarchy for late payments and overpayments
- Final payment impact: Assess customer comprehension of the impact of interest accrual on their final payment
We conducted 30 unmoderated sessions with Chase credit card customers, all primary planners of leisure travel. Half of the participants had prior experience with BNPL, while the other half were new to it. Participants completed task-based flows designed to uncover usability and comprehension gaps.
Delivery
Introducing Chase Pay Monthly
After multiple rounds of research, iteration, and stakeholder alignment, we arrived at the details page shown here. Each component represents not just user needs, but also the reality of designing within a large organization, where every decision requires alignment across legal, design system, ADA, and product partners. The result is a collection of many conversations, trade-offs, and refinements, a careful balance between business requirements, regulatory constraints, and user experience.
Plan name customization
The ability to customize reassured customers that they were managing the correct plan. It also made identifying the correct plan within the dashboard much more seamless.
Details that matter
Plan details were tucked behind a dropdown because most terms were static and previously accepted, making optional access preferable to constant display.
We prioritized the following loan details in this order based on what customers found most useful for payment preparation.
Validated in Round 2 of research that visibility of the last payment was crucial in understanding the product construct since this amount gets impacted by interest accrual.
Validated in Round 1 of research that customers appreciated the breakdown of principal versus interest for their payments.
