Designing Repayments That Work Without Cashback
Designing Repayments That Work Without Cashback
Across Kiwi and Freecharge, a large part of my work has been on repayments. In consumer credit, getting people to repay on time is the business. The usual tool is an incentive. In my experience, the better tool is a repayment experience that is simply easy.
Repayment is a product, not a reminder
Many credit products treat repayment as a notification and a link. That leaves users to work out what they owe and where to pay. When repayment is designed as a feature inside the app, with a clear amount and a short path to pay, more users repay where the product can see and support them.
Incentives hide the real problem
Cashbacks can lift repayment numbers for a while. They also make it hard to tell whether the experience itself is good. If repayments only happen when there is a reward, the product has not solved the problem. Designing without incentives first forces the team to fix the friction.
Retention follows trust
A user who repays easily and on time builds a relationship with the product. That user is more likely to keep using it, and more likely to be a good fit for upsell and cross-sell later. Repayment, retention and lifetime value are closely linked, which is why I think about them as one platform capability rather than separate projects.
Build for the customer who is late
Most repayment flows are designed for the customer who pays on time. The more important case is the customer who is a little behind. A clear view of what is due, and a respectful way to catch up, does more for them than a stern message.
Keep the numbers honest
Repayment rate is a headline number, so it is tempting to optimise it in ways that hurt users. I prefer to look at it alongside complaints, drop offs and how often users come back. A good repayment product improves all of them together.
Nishant skipped presentations and built real AI products.
Nishant Pandita was part of the August 2026 cohort at Curious PM, alongside 24 other talented participants.