Discover Card 5% Rewards
Driving quarterly category activation for a cash back credit card through various consumer touch-points, averaging 7% activation lift over two years, with peaks up to 24.2% across audience segments.
Role
UX/UI + Art Director/Designer
Team
Rewards Marketing
Company
Discover Bank
Overview
I led UX design and creative direction for a multi-channel activation campaign supporting Discover's 5% cash back card with revolving quarterly categories. The revolving campaign was designed to drive cardholder participation in activating quarterly categories and increase overall card usage.
Deliverables spanned the full customer touchpoint ecosystem — including A/B tested email campaigns, in-app alerts and messaging, social media placements, creative direction on 15-second TV spots, and website landing pages.
Business case for quarterly activation
User Engagement & Marketing: The quarterly requirement ensures cardholders interact with the app/website, keeping the brand top of mind and encouraging cardholders to use the card for 5% categories, as well as general spending for 1% cash back on all other purchases. Higher card use and engagement allows Discover to collect interchange fees from merchants, and interest from cardholders.
Compliance and Legal: Different categories have specific terms, disclosures, or legal requirements that require re-acceptance in order to activate each quarter.
Results
Through specific touch points in the UX flow, I was able to reduce friction in the activation, increase engagement, and motivate cardholders to take action at key moments in the quarterly cycle — resulting in an average 7% increase in category activation rates, with peaks up to 24.2%* across audience segments, alongside measurable lifts in brand awareness and overall card usage.
*%Lift on overall card use and quarterly activation varied by quarter and by audience segments, but showed overall continued growth year-over-year.
Email reminders + Successful activation
To drive quarterly activation for Discover's 5% Cashback Bonus® program, I designed 50+ A/B tested emails across 8 quarters, the primary channel through which cardmembers activated their rewards categories. We introduced new segments targeting new cardmembers and students and extended testing to mobile app messaging, lifting activation rates by up to 24.2% across recent, lapsed, and never-activated audiences. I also redesigned the quarterly activation landing page, creating a branded experience that surfaced all eligible categories at a glance and connected directly to shopping to reduce friction from awareness to action.
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