Case study · 2025–2026 · Confidential client

All-in-One Revolving Credit with Flexible Payments for a Tier-1 European Bank

The answer of a major bank to Klarna, Scalapay and the other online payment platforms young people love: one credit that works as a reserve of money and as payments split in slices, designed to protect customers from going too deep into debt.

BankingConsumer creditBuy now, pay laterMobile appRegulated (CCD2)

Four phone screens of the credit app: the overview with available credit, a purchase split into three payments, a repayment sheet, and the schedule of a plan

Client: Retail arm of a tier-1 European bank
Role: Product designer in a concept & UX squad of four
Timeline: 2025 – 2026
Scope: Research, benchmark, principles, flows, UI, strategy deck

Shown with the client anonymised. Names, internal figures and product details are removed, and the working files appear from a distance on purpose: what this page shows is the scale and the method, not the fine print.

400+mobile screens designed
11flow maps, 300+ connections
87research & strategy slides
7players benchmarked, 84 screens
29slide strategy deck
4people in the concept squad

Klarna, Scalapay and the other online payment platforms have changed what people expect from credit, young people above all: pay in a few taps, split it in slices, barely feel it. This is a major bank’s answer. It still ran two ageing revolving-credit products, widely held but barely used: a separate platform, a physical card, paper statements, no link to daily banking.

Our research found the cost of that ease. When paying in slices feels painless, people lose track and end up in debt, while European regulation (CCD2) was closing in on buy now, pay later. The bank did not want a copy of these platforms. It wanted a different approach, highly protective of the customer. The brief: design the servicing experience of one new credit, native to the mobile app. Using the credit, not selling it. The result is one hybrid product.

A reserve of money

A revolving credit: money set aside that you can use whenever you need it, and repay at your own rhythm.

Payments in slices

Any payment can also be split in several slices, the flexibility people love in BNPL, here inside the bank’s own app.

Protective by design

Real cost in euros, no pressure to borrow, one payment and one date. A credit that keeps customers out of debt instead of pulling them in.

01Into the data

Before drawing a screen, I went through everything the bank already knew: usage data of the two legacy products, earlier concept reports, a market study and an omnibus survey on BNPL, and qualitative interviews. It was all regrouped on one board, from problem definition to risks, so the team argued from the same evidence, including how easily split payments slide into debt.

The research board, seen from a distance: nine zones of synthesis — The research board, seen from a distance

Two very different audiences

Young people have moved to Klarna, Scalapay and their peers. The people who still use the bank’s credit are established, loyal and already active in the app: people who trust the bank.

Easy payments, quiet debt

When paying in slices feels painless, people lose track. The research on these platforms showed users going deeper into debt than they meant to. That became the problem to solve.

Credit to stay in control

Three relationships with debt came out of the data: the struggler, the planner and the comfortable spender. All three want control, not permission to overspend.

Five pains, five briefs

Disconnection from daily banking, slow activation, invisibility at the moment of need, complexity of rules and costs, and the shame of asking to borrow.

02The benchmark

Seven players, from pure BNPL apps to a competing bank and a wallet, screen by screen: how credit is offered, how a plan is chosen, how costs appear, and what happens after. The takeaway fits in a line: steal the mechanics, reject the manipulation.

Benchmark board: BNPL apps, a bank and a wallet, screen by screen — Benchmark board, 84 competitor screens

What they get wrong

Frictionless to the point of invisible: you borrow without registering it.
Dopamine-led: a small amount today hides the real total.
The whole flow pushes toward the purchase.
The full cost surfaces late, if at all.

What they get right

Credit as a mode on something you already use.
Retroactive flexibility: convert a past payment later.
Smart defaults that stay editable.
Real euros instead of a bare APR.
One combined payment, one date.

03The angle

The platforms make paying in slices feel like nothing, and that is how debt creeps in. So the product became the anti-BNPL: calm over urgent, clarity over cleverness, respect over persuasion, control over convenience.

Not a copy with better manners, but a hybrid built to protect the customer first: a revolving reserve to use whenever needed and repay at your own rhythm, with the option to split any payment in slices. Six principles turn that stance into guardrails against over-indebtedness, and became the tie-breaker whenever the team disagreed.

1Native, not adjacentCredit lives inside daily banking, never in a separate place.
2Money first, plan afterNever block the transfer with plan setting.
3Defaults over decisionsA smart default does the work; customising is opt-in.
4Show the real costConcrete euros before anything is confirmed.
5Opt-in, pressure neverNo nudges to borrow. The anti-BNPL, made into a rule.
6Debt is motionAlways place the user in time: one payment, one date.

04From principles to screens

The working file, from far away. On the left, the structure: information architecture, an object map, user tasks, flow maps and every place the product touches the existing app. On the right, the screens: activation, splitting or deferring a transfer, converting a past card payment, early repayment and the dashboards that keep a running plan visible. Each flow was explored in several variants before the team picked one.

The prototype canvas, seen from a distance: structure on the left, hundreds of screens on the right — The prototype canvas, seen from a distance

Activation and first use: a five-step activation, then the repayment preferences

Split or defer a transfer, with a smart default plan and a plan editor

Wireframes, iteration 01: credit detail, transactions, refund plan

05The strategy deck

Everything above, told in one story for the business, compliance and product owners: from who they are, to how it should feel, to what we build. Five chapters, custom illustration throughout, and the decision tools the team kept using afterwards.

Drag or swipe to browse, or focus the screen browser and use the arrow keys. Press Enter or select Full size to enlarge the current screen.

Screen 1 of 20: The whole story, in one slide

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06What it delivered

01Research synthesis that showed how BNPL slides people into debt, before any screen was drawn

02A benchmark of seven players turned into one position: steal the mechanics, reject the manipulation

03Four postures and six guiding principles used as the tie-breaker for every design decision

04Three scenarios (A, B, C) for when the client meets the repayment plan, framed as testable bets

05One hybrid credit, a reserve plus split payments, in servicing flows and 400+ screens covering activation, transfers, retroactive splits, reimbursement and dashboards

06A 29-slide strategy deck with custom illustration, used to align business, compliance and product

Disciplines

UX ResearchData SynthesisCompetitive BenchmarkDesign PrinciplesInformation ArchitectureFlow MappingMobile UIStorytelling & Deck DesignRegulated UX