Discover Card 5% Rewards
Designing the activation-to-spend journey for Discover's rotating 5% categories — lifting activation by up to 24.2%, driving a 7% average lift in category spend, and building cardmember loyalty along the way.
Role
Product Design, End-to-end
Team
Rewards Marketing + Growth
Company
Discover
The Challenge
Discover's 5% Cashback Bonus® program asks cardmembers to activate their bonus categories every quarter, then use their card. Each quarter that touchpoint keeps Discover top of mind, drives card usage, and builds loyalty — but only if cardmembers actually show up. My job was designing the journey that gets them there, across email, mobile app, web, and out-of-home.
Driving Activation
Email is one of three primary activation channels. Across 10 quarters I designed 50+ A/B-tested emails, introduced new segments for new cardmembers and students, and extended testing into mobile app messaging.
→ Activation rates lifted by up to 24.2% across recent, lapsed, and never-activated audiences.
Converting Activation to Spend
Activation only matters if it leads to swipes. I redesigned the confirmation landing page to surface every eligible category at a glance and connect directly to category shopping — closing the gap between awareness and action.
→ 7% average lift in 5% category spend year-over-year, supporting sustained growth in overall card usage from 2022–2025.
I also tested reminder emails to already-activated cardmembers, using language like "You activated — don't miss out!" with a "Track your progress" CTA into the app. Click engagement came in below our activation emails, but open rates stayed strong, so while the CTA underperformed, the email likely still did quieter work as a top-of-mind nudge to pull out the Discover card, even when users didn't tap through.
The Bigger Picture & Insight
→ Beyond the activation and direct spend metrics, the quarterly rhythm built durable engagement: cardmembers returning to the app and site every quarter, with measurable lifts in brand awareness and recall, as well as net promoter score.
Data-Driven segmentation drove results and allowed for high volume A/B test experimentation with each audience receiving targeted messaging to accelerate activation growth and card spend.
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