Quick note
I led the product design for the very first version of FlexiPay, launched in 2021. This case study focuses on that initial launch.
The product has evolved a lot since. To see the current version, visit Funding Circle’s website.
Client
Funding Circle Ltd.
My Role
Lead Product Designer
Project Time
10 Weeks
Background
About Funding Circle Ltd.
Funding Circle is a British financial technology company specialising in providing loans and financial services to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Founded in 2010 as a peer-to-peer lending platform, the company transitioned fully to institutional lending in 2022.
As of 2024, Funding Circle has facilitated over £15 billion in loans and is listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE: FCH). Source: Wikipedia
About FlexiPay
FlexiPay is part of a suite of new solutions that help solve more small business funding problems. It helps small businessess spread the cost of paying invoices. Borrowers have the ability to settle invoices for one-off 3% fee and then spread the repayment over 3 months, interest free.
FlexiPay would consolidate Funding Circle as a multi-product organization in the UK.
The problem
We know that for 2 out of 3 SMEs cash flow is their biggest issue. While many solutions exist in the market, they often come with hidden fees and complex cost structures, leaving small businesses with limited, costly options.
The challenge
The main business objective was to rapidly deliver an MVP solution within just 10 weeks. This required simplifying a complex financial proposition into an intuitive, user-friendly product for our borrowers. Key constraints included designing exclusively with existing components and navigating the entire product development process without a dedicated product owner.
The solution
A 10-week MVP: FlexiPay, a simple 3-month interest-free invoice repayment plan. As a sales proposition, FlexiPay allows borrowers to spread the cost of paying invoices, with the option to settle them for a one-off 3% fee and repay over 3 months, interest-free.
My role
How I contributed to the project
Tools
Sketch
Abstract
Adobe Illustrator
Adobe Photoshop
Invision App
The process
Steps taken to address the project goals
After the project kick-off I started to interview key stakeholders to collect relevant information such as business requirements, design resources, technical capabilities and deliverables.
Additionally, I was interested in understanding from their point of view how success looks like and how we were going to measure it. The discovery phase was conducted by an external UX agency which provided recorded user interviews that I used to uncover users' needs, pain-points and expectations. I also conducted a competitor analysis including other businesses using a similar product model like Iowca, PayPal, Klarna among others.
I also analyzed the current structure of the customer user interface to understand which direction this new design should take in order to meet a responsive framework requirement and technical constraints.
Research
Ideation
Prototype
Flowchart
V.3
Flexipay pre-approved existing borrowers sign up
The process that pre-approved Existing Borrowers will go through to sign up for FlexiPay.
Pre-approved Exbo gets invited to participate in FlexiPay beta via email that would ask them to sign in into their account. After Signing in, they will land on a FlexiPay landing page where they will find more information about the product with a prominent Sign Up CTA to complete the Line of Credit application.
After completing the application, the users will land on a page that shows their Line of Credit limit and checkbox button to agree to the terms & conditions.
Once the user agrees to the Ts & Cs they should be redirected to the Borrower Portal where they’ll be able to see a new FlexiPay section with CTA to pay a bill.
Metrics
To measure the success of this project from a product design perspective, I have defined the following metrics:
1- Number of email openings
2- Landing Page interaction and CTA click rate
3- Number of sign-ups completed
4- Time of sign-up completion
5- FlexiPay - payment requests CTA click rate
6- Critical errors
Feedback
Prototype
See the end-to-end flow of FlexiPay in action
Key screens
Customer profile page before and after Flexipay
Previous customer profile view showing a list of loan applications, before the introduction of FlexiPay.
Updated customer profile with a new top navigation that lets users switch between Applications, FlexiPay, and Repayments.
FlexiPay payment history and repayments list page
Payment history page.
Upcoming repayment list page.
Results
FlexiPay top numbers in UK from August 2021 (launch) - January 2022:
650
Applications
529
Lines of credit approved
303
Active users
1,591
Drawdowns
£ 80,339.49
Highest amount used
OKRs
N/A
Customer feedback
What customer are saying about FlexiPay
“It will help me bridge the gap between supplier payments and to negotiate better with my suppliers. It was an easy application and there was not a lot of information to fill in. I will definitely use it on an ongoing basis to manage invoices.
The repayment process and terms and conditions were very clear and I am confident with how the payments to suppliers work. FlexiPay is a brilliant idea and I would definitely recommend the product. If you market it well, I think you will have many small businesses signing up for it.”
Livity
Intrit Facilities Management
"I applied for FlexiPay because customers were paying me late which meant I was short on cash flow.
I like the product as it helps me pay suppliers on time, keep a good reputation and manage cash flow.
The application process was straightforward and it only took a few minutes to complete. I'd be happy to recommend FlexiPay to others."
Carl
Advanced Joinery
“I signed up to FlexiPay as I had a payment due to a supplier and it allowed me to buy extra supplies which I needed.
FlexiPay is one of the best ideas for small businesses and I will definitely be using it on an ongoing basis and telling people about it.
It is really clear how repayments work and how much I owe.”
Paul
P&W Waste Solutions
Follow up ideas
Ideas around areas to improve or build in the future
Based on all I know now about the end users and their needs and expectations I would highly encourage the product team to consider for a future version of FlexiPay, to add a few extra features in order to improve the experience and efficiency of this product.
Recommended features:
Payment schedule feature (offering users the ability to schedule a payment at a specific day)
Add a payee (helping users to make regular payments to the same vendor without needing to complete the same form over and over again)
Archive (in order to keep the transaction page organized, the user could archive when a loan is fully repaid)
Add a “Pay now or similar” button on the upcoming repayments to each due invoice, so users can pay right away
Lessons learnt
Enhanced understanding of business decisions and strategies within the product
Discussing the creation of new components with project owners and developers as early as possible in the process, if necessary
Structuring and prioritizing my tasks in a more efficient way
Involving the right people at the right time in the process to avoid time waste, collect relevant feedback and enable efficient decision making
Peers are important. Working with them as sparring partners I was able to test my design a few times and listening to their feedback was definitely a key to success.