Cashback Program - Route to Eligibility
Project Duration
1 month
My Role
Product Designer
The Team
1 Product Manager
2 Developers
Overview
As part of my internship at BharatPe, I worked on the Route to Eligibility Cashback Program. The program aimed to help merchants who were not immediately eligible for loans. By completing weekly financial tasks, merchants could earn cashback as an incentive while building repayment discipline and eventually unlocking loan eligibility.
The Design Brief
The goal was to design a journey that motivated ineligible merchants to stay engaged instead of dropping off after rejection. Cashback was introduced as a tangible reward to drive weekly task completion and make the path to eligibility clear, transparent, and motivating.
Problem breakdown
Research and Insights
Why Merchants Drop Off After Loan Rejection
Merchants who were denied loans often abandoned the platform because eligibility felt vague and long-term. There was no clear path to becoming eligible again, and without short-term rewards, motivation was low.
~21%
program enrollment rates
~20–25%
average target completion rates
We Identified Three Key Characteristics of Merchants in the Cashback Program
Business Size
These users are typically small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) operating in local markets.
Technology Adoption
Limited smartphone usage, low digital literacy, and reliance on affordable mobile data.
Revenue Range
Their businesses usually generate modest and irregular daily or monthly income streams.
From insights to implementation
The insights highlighted that merchants needed short-term rewards, clear progress visibility, and simple communication to stay motivated. To address this, I designed a weekly task dashboard that showed progress toward eligibility and highlighted cashback earned at each step. Visual trackers replaced jargon-heavy text, making it easy for merchants to understand how close they were to becoming eligible. These design choices transformed eligibility from an abstract concept into a structured, rewarding journey that merchants could actively engage with.
Usability Testing
Cashback is motivating
Merchants found cashback easy to understand and viewed it as a strong incentive to complete tasks.
Clarity in Visual progress
Trackers and simple dashboards helped merchants clearly see how far they were from eligibility.
Language simplification
Replacing financial jargon with plain terms made the flow more accessible for low-literacy users.
Notifications feel supportive
Cashback alerts and reminders were seen as helpful nudges rather than spam.
Eligibility feels achievable
Breaking the journey into weekly milestones with cashback reduced drop-offs.
Impact
2x
Increase in enrollment into the Route to Eligibility program with cashback as the core incentive
40%
Higher weekly task completion rates compared to the earlier non-incentivized flow
30%
Reduction in merchant drop-offs after loan rejection
25%
Improvement in conversion of previously ineligible merchants into eligible borrowers
Key learnings
Clarity beats complexity
Simplifying financial jargon into plain language helped merchants instantly understand repayment details and reduced anxiety.
Visuals drive trust
Progress trackers and repayment calendars reassured merchants by making dues and schedules easy to follow.
Small details make a big impact
Adjustments in information hierarchy, like showing net disbursed amount upfront, boosted confidence and transparency.
Business constraints shape design
Balancing regulatory requirements with user-friendly flows taught me that good design often comes from working within real-world limitations.