Fintech · UX and Product Design · 2025
Northsail Bank Onboarding
Northsail was losing almost half of new applicants before their first deposit. We redesigned onboarding from the applicant's point of view: one clear question at a time.
Result
Onboarding completion up 22% after the redesign.
What we delivered
- Discovery workshop
- User journeys
- Wireframes
- UI design
- Prototype testing
The problem
The onboarding flow asked for everything up front: identity, employment, funding source, tax residency. Applicants abandoned wherever the form felt like paperwork.
Compliance requirements were real, but the order and framing were the bank's, not the customer's.
What we did
We reordered the journey so applicants saw value early: open the account first, then complete verification steps as they're needed.
Each compliance question got plain-English framing and a reason. People are far more patient when they know why they're being asked.
We tested three prototype rounds with real applicants before a line of production code was written.
The outcome
Completion rose 22% in the first two months after launch, and time-to-first-deposit shortened by four days on average. The compliance team signed off on every step. Clarity and regulation turned out not to be enemies.