Enhancing Financial Decision-Making with Interactive Calculators

Project Overview

In the competitive financial services sector, understanding complex loan options can be daunting for consumers. Recognizing this, our client sought innovative ways to demystify financial decisions for their users.

Problem Statement

The primary obstacle was overcoming the limitations of static information, which often leaves customers confused and overwhelmed. Our client needed a way to present financial data interactively, enabling users to easily comprehend and navigate their loan options.

Solution

Our engineering team developed a suite of dynamic calculators integrated seamlessly into our partner's Content Management System (CMS). This solution facilitated content creators and offered users engaging tools for financial planning. The system's versatility allowed calculators to be embedded directly into web pages.

• Generic Calculator Model: We built a foundational model within the CMS, allowing for the creation of various calculators (e.g., Personal Loan, HELOC) through a simple type selection.
• Dynamic Rate Management: Content managers could now adjust loan rates within the model based on factors like debt/loan duration and credit score. This flexibility ensures users receive up-to-date and personalized results.

Calculator Specifics

• HELOC & Home Equity Calculators: These leverage the power of the Google Maps Autocomplete API to effortlessly capture the user's property address. Then the system makes an internal service call to retrieve the property value. Based on this value, тче system calculates the user's estimated maximum loan amount, interest rate, and monthly payment.
• Personal Loan Calculator: This tool estimates monthly payments based on user-provided information like credit score, desired loan amount, and loan term (number of monthly payments).
• Debt-to-Income (DTI) Calculator: The system calculates the DTI ratio based on the user’s monthly gross income and current debt obligations and displays personalized recommendations based on the results (loans, debt relief, and consolidation strategies).
• Mortgage Rates Calculator: This tool captures user financial information and leverages an external API to calculate mortgage rates based on their state. The user is then presented with relevant mortgage offers they may qualify for.
• Debt Snowball Calculator: Inspired by the popular debt repayment strategy, this tool allows users to input credit card and unsecured debt balances, their interest rates, and a designated monthly payment amount. The system then calculates a personalized payoff schedule, highlighting the debt-free date and individual loan line payoff dates.

Impact

The introduction of these calculators transformed the user experience by providing:

• Personalized Results: Tailoring calculations to individual situations for a clearer understanding of loan options.
• Informed Decisions: Enabling users to make educated choices by comparing potential payments.
• Actionable Insights: Offering specific recommendations for financial betterment based on comprehensive analyses.

Through these innovative tools, our financial service provider partner has empowered their users to navigate the complexities of financial decisions with confidence, significantly enhancing user satisfaction and engagement. The development of the calculator was part of A/B testing and even though the tool didn’t have much impact on conversion, it did affect retention.