The problem

The 'Boost Your Banking' campaign was a limited-time promotion running across Ireland and Germany. To claim a set of 'boosts', customers needed to opt in and add money to their main account. One of those boosts was a '3.75% variable APY' interest rate — and before the campaign launched, I had a strong suspicion that most users wouldn't know what APY meant.

In fintech, there's a tendency to use industry-standard terminology because it feels precise and compliant. But precise and compliant isn't the same as understood. If customers couldn't parse the headline offer, the promotion wasn't going to convert.

The hypothesis

If we tested the terminology before launch, we'd have the evidence needed to either simplify the language or find a way to explain it clearly — and avoid launching a campaign built on copy users couldn't understand.

My role

Content designer and co-lead on the research, running the test in partnership with a UX researcher.

What I did

I initiated and co-ran a copy research test specifically focused on the 'APY' terminology — examining whether customers understood what it meant and how it affected their perception of the offer.

The results were clear: any copy featuring 'APY' was not fully understood by customers. The ideal solution would have been to remove the term entirely and lead with plain language. But in a regulated financial context, with senior stakeholders understandably cautious about changing established terminology on a short timeline, that wasn't on the table.

Rather than push for a change that wouldn't land, I found a workable middle ground: keeping '3.75% variable APY' in the copy for compliance and familiarity, but adding clear body copy that explained what it actually meant in plain terms. Customers got the reassurance of a recognised term alongside a genuine explanation — neither confused by jargon nor misled by oversimplification.

The result

The campaign launched with copy that balanced regulatory requirements with user comprehension. The research prevented a potentially confusing — and commercially damaging — campaign from going live without the right guardrails in place.