The Problem
When President’s Choice Financial and CIBC’s partnership came to a close, CIBC launched the digital bank, Simplii. Since its launch, Simplii has had many challenges in acquiring new customers since losing the pavillions found in grocery stores. Simplii’s mortgage line of business in particular has had a difficult time in gaining client awareness and communicating a defined value proposition amongst its competitors in the Mortgage market. Simplii mortgages needed a shakeup and our team was engaged to come up with a solution to increase engagement and bring in more quality leads to Simplii’s mortgage advisors.
Hill Statement
As a first-time mortgage seeker, I want to digitally learn about mortgages, qualifications, monthly payments and connect with a Simplii mortgage advisor through the simple form that displays how much I can qualify for and takes no longer than 3 minutes.
Research Sources
Results from recently research recently conducted by CIBC on mortgages for related initiatives in the bank
AlphaUX survey delivered to 378 North American respondents who were recent mortgage seekers
Over 20 competitive experiences evaluated
5 interviews with Simplii mortgage advisors
16 industry reports
High Level Flow
Simplifies the journey
Establishes credibility
A partner in the process
Increases engagement
Prototype
UX Research Methods
Experience reviewed with the same 5 mortgage advisor’s previously interviewed
7 remote moderated usability tests of the prototype with prospective homebuyers
13 unmoderated usability sessions of the prototype with prospective homebuyers
2 prototype iterations made based on user feedback
UX Research Findings
Providing mortgage seekers with a guided and informative home ownership experience coupled with relevant tools increases their trust with the brand and encourages them to connect with a Simplii mortgage advisor. This increases the number of leads in the mortgage acquisition funnel thus increasing the opportunities to acquire new mortgage clients
Educational content is valuable and contributes positively to the perceived credibility of the Simplii brand
User quotes
“Doesn’t seem intimidating in any way, even though it is something that’s quite big. It’s much better than having all of this info being thrown at you on a website.”
“I feel like this website is on my side, and it’s supporting me, and it’s encouraging. It’s basically helping me make the decision for myself. It’s not making the decision for me, it’s giving me all of the information that I need to decide if I’m ready.”
Final Recommendation
Simplifying the home buying journey and centering the value proposition around transparency and education instills trust in mortgage seekers that Simplii will be your partner in the home buying process despite lacking a face to face channel to service homebuyers. To reinforce the value proposition, advisor bios are added to the journey to enhance transparency, and interactive tools and videos are included to facilitate the educational process. This, in-turn, nudges homebuyers to work with Simplii mortgage advisors, increasing the lead volume and sales. It is recommended to pursue this initiative as it improves the client experience not only setting Simplii on par with competition but improving on the journey offered by best in class competitors (without completely fulfilling the mortgage digitally).
Project Outcomes
Funding for this project was obtained successfully and is ontrack for delivery. Of note, since there is minimal impact to back end systems with this experience, it has gained considerable traction within CIBC and it being explored for other initiatives.