2026
Making cash deposits possible on day one
I turned a barcode feature into an onboarding opportunity. Allowing cash-preferred customers a way to fund their account before their debit card arrived.
COMPANY
Varo Bank
ROLE
Product Designer
TEAM
Banking
PROBLEM
Cash-preferred users were blocked at the moment that mattered. Customers had to wait 7-10 days until their physical card arrived to fund their account with cash.
Onboarding drop-off audits, cohort and funnel analysis, and transaction-behavior mapping revealed a high-value segment unable to activate.
INSIGHT
2.4%
3rd
$150
of new users first funded with cash.
most popular funding method after transfers and debit cards.
more per deposit on average than debit-card deposits.
KEY INSIGHT
Cash-preferred users needed access before their card arrived, and they were more likely to fund their accounts — and at higher amounts.
ONBOARDING DROP-OFF
72.8% of customers skipped this step in onboarding.
With the ability to add cash immediately with a barcode, we had more reason to add it to this screen.
From simple feature add to a core activation lever.
Product planned a barcode feature buried in the existing cash flow — no activation impact, no funnel improvement.
I advocated for an Onboarding Integration.
Using cohort data and funnel analysis, I reframed the feature as a way to activate user more seamlessly by integrating cash deposits via barcode directly into the onboarding "Fund Your Account" step.
This aligned Product and Design to our company initiatives.
EXPANDED VISION
FINAL SOLUTION
A cash deposits experience without waiting for a card.
Prioritized an onboarding first approach.
We had to be strategic and design an intro screen that explained ‘How to deposit cash’ at a digital only bank.
Simply integrated deposits into an existing solution for fast delivery.
We utilized the same map for finding ATMs for the Add Cash feature to easily find deposit cash locations.
Explain fees and limits per location and customer.
Some locations offer fee-free deposits while others don’t. We made it easy to find which are free in the map and explain limits to cash deposits associated with each account.
Onboarding Funding Selection
How-To-Deposit Intro
Fee-Free Locations
Easy Barcode Scan
RESULTS AFTER LAUNCH
+$850K in new customer cash deposits in the first month.
BARCODE USAGE
37.8%
of all cash deposits were made using a barcode.
Key Takeaway: Advocation through data allowed us to be confident on our decisions to invest resources and coordinate with the activation team to integrate the Add Cash feature in onboarding.
EARLY ACCOUNT ACTIVITY
8.3%
of all barcode cash deposits were made in the first 7 days of account creation.
YEARY OVER YEAR
+11.1%
increase in all cash deposits among customers versus the previous year.
Our success target was: +5% increase in all cash deposits among customers
Check out my other work
