The direct debit form at Lendo
The direct debit step came at the end of the insurance purchase, and dropping out there left a live policy with no payment method and a high chance of churn. The form asked for the account number in two fields. Research across Swedish bank apps said it should be one.
- Context
- Loan broker, insurance purchase
- Role
- Product Owner
- Period
- 2023 to 2025
The short version
- Result
- Completion of the direct debit step up by an estimated 10%. The figure is from memory, since it was never recorded.
- What I did
- Checked how every Swedish bank app shows account numbers, then merged the form's two fields into one.
- The call
- A small fix was enough, because the new insurance system was going to replace the step with an open banking signup.
What changed
The form wanted the clearing number and the account number in separate fields, while most bank apps show one combined string with a copy button.
One field that accepts the number the way bank apps give it, based on screenshots colleagues sent from their own banks.
Problem
The direct debit step came at the end of the insurance purchase at Lendo, after the customer had already chosen a policy, and asked for an account to take the payments from. Dropping out there didn't cancel the policy. It stayed live with no payment method, so the insurer had to chase the customer by post. By the time the papers arrived the insurance had faded in the customer's mind, and churn on those policies was high.
The form had one field for the clearing number and another for the account number.
What I did
Customers get that number from their mobile banking app, so I checked how every Swedish bank shows account numbers. I didn't have accounts at every bank, so I asked colleagues to check theirs and send screenshots. Some apps show two parts, but most show one combined string and offer a copy button for the full number. A customer copied one string from their bank app, and our form made them split it into two boxes by hand.
I changed the form to one field that accepts the number the way the bank app hands it over.
Why a small fix was the right size
The thorough answer was an open banking connection, where the customer picks their account and never types anything. The new insurance system was already going to replace this step with an open banking signup, so building that integration now would have been throwaway work. The one field form helped customers straight away and cost almost nothing.
Outcome
Completion of the step rose by an estimated 10%. That figure is from memory, since it was never recorded. The change didn't sell more policies, but more of the policies already sold ended up with a way to pay.