Pink standard
Setting the standard for sustainable payments at Klarna
- Project goal: Set higher standards to specific payment methods like the pay later, monthly invoice and pay in parts to get even closer to consumers' needs.
- Motivation: Due to the fact that people weren't able to pay in time, Klarna decided to improve its payment methods and offerings through the pink standard initiative starting from Sweden and followed by Finland, Norway and Denmark.
- My role and the team: Senior product designer in a team 1 product manager, 1 data analyst and 3 engineers. Also, supporting another group (responsible for Pay later and monthly invoice).
- Activities and tools: Requirements and analysis, design strategy, wireframing, high fidelity designs & prototyping, collaboration and workshops with different teams.
- Results: Launched this initiative to a total of +3K merchants in 4 different markets.
- Project duration: 3 months.
Klarna decided to set the standard for sustainable payments called "Pink standard" in the Nordics. With this initiative, we were striving to position Klarna as the number 1 consumer friendly fintech brand in the region.
We do so by enhancing sustainable business practices which means getting rid of unnecessary fees and complexity, be even more transparent and help customers pay on time.
We focused on 3 different payment methods (Pay later, Monthly invoice and Pay in parts). On some features and changes other teams were also involved.
We mapped out all these changes below:
- Pay Later
1. Late payment interest is removed
2. Ability to convert into instalments in the Klarna app (if consumers are not able to pay on time)
3. Friendly reminders after due date
4. Ability to enable and disable automatic payments
5. 30 days credit time for all merchants (instead of 14) - Monthly invoice
1. Ability to convert into instalments in Klarna app
2. Ability to enable/disable automatic payments
3. Pay at the end of the next month - Pay in parts (Financing)
1. Stop nudging for a minimum payment in app and statements (to minimise increasing dept)
2. 50% decrease of the reminder fees
3. Remove late payment interest
4. Interest only pricing without hidden fees (i.e admin fees, etc.)
Localisation work was essential in order to adapt to the cultural and linguistic differences within each Nordic country. The team conducted thorough research to understand consumer behavior, payment habits, and preferences, and used this knowledge to inform the product changes.
By launching the Pink standard initiative gradually (in Sweden first), Klarna was able to see the initial reaction and gather feedback from users before rolling it out to all targeted markets. It was important to strike a balance between launching quickly and ensuring the product was meeting the desired outcomes.
We successfully launched these changes to 3.200 merchants in 4 different markets (Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark). Most users were able to pay more on time with less calls and reports to the customer service.
- Drop percentage in customer service errands
Sweden: 18%
Denmark: 54%
Finland: 33%
Norway: 42% - Drop percentage in reminder rates
Sweden: 42%
Denmark: 46%
Finland: 44%
Norway: 43%
By hearing our customers and making informed tiny changes in the product we could provide a tangible and an overall better experience.
