Project
Verified by Visa Redesign
Product & CX Consultant, Chillimint
I designed the VBV 2.0 customer experience for Visa, combining analysis of payment data with customer interviews and session recordings to understand exactly where users were failing, abandoning, or being unnecessarily blocked during card verification.
- I mapped end-to-end VBV flows across multiple issuing banks, identified inconsistencies and friction hotspots, and redesigned the experience with clearer copy, simplified challenge steps, and consistent UI patterns across issuers.
- Implementation across multiple banks produced a significant reduction in VBV-related complaints and improved transaction success rates — making verification a less leaky step in the card payment journey.
Overview
Verified by Visa (VBV) was a persistent source of friction and complaints across UK banks. Users failed or abandoned card transactions not because of genuine fraud risk, but because the verification experience was confusing, inconsistent, and often actively unclear about what it was asking them to do.
Chillimint worked closely with Visa to redesign it.
The problem
The VBV experience varied significantly across issuing banks, and few implementations met a reasonable standard of usability. Users didn't understand why they were being challenged. Copy was too technical. Password prompts created unnecessary failures. Inconsistency between issuers meant customers had no reliable mental model for what to expect.
The result was unnecessary payment drop-offs, higher complaint volumes, and reduced trust in card transactions — a commercial problem for banks and Visa alike.
What I did
I started with the data. I reviewed large volumes of payment data to analyse decline patterns, drop-off rates, and failure reasons. This quantitative picture told me where the biggest losses were happening. I then paired it with qualitative research — customer interviews and session recordings — to understand the human side of those failures.
With that foundation, I mapped the end-to-end VBV flow across multiple issuing banks, documenting the inconsistencies and pinpointing the specific steps that drove confusion and abandonment.
The redesign of VBV 2.0 focused on three things: simplifying the language of challenge screens so users understood what was being asked and why; standardising UI patterns across issuers to create a predictable experience; and removing unnecessary fields and steps that added friction without adding security value.
I presented the recommendations to Visa and bank stakeholders, making the commercial case — tying user frustration directly to transaction failure rates and complaint volumes.
Impact
Multiple banks implemented the redesigned flows. VBV-related complaints reduced significantly. Transaction success rates improved and card payment journeys became measurably smoother — an outcome that strengthened Chillimint's relationship with Visa and contributed to further engagement across the portfolio.