FD-Backed Credit Card

Overview

India has hundreds of millions of people with thin or no credit bureau history. This product turns a fixed deposit into a credit card, in one sitting, on a phone. End-to-end mobile journey: from FD creation through lien marking, KYC, and card issuance to live card controls.

The problem

An FD-backed credit card sounds simple. It isn't. Two regulated products, multiple backend systems, two regulatory frameworks, and a lien mechanism most users have never heard of.

Approach

1. 01

   Storyboard before wireframe

   Mapped the full emotional arc first: the user's mental model shifts from "I'm opening an FD" to "I now have a credit card" within one session.

2. 02

   Make the lien legible

   Surfaced a plain-language "where your money is" module at the exact moment a user would start to wonder. Transparency at the right moment builds trust faster than reassurance.

3. 03

   Card controls as a system, not a feature

   These patterns were absorbed into Tijori and now ship across every credit card product on Falcon's platform.

4. 04

   Pressure-test what the happy path ignores

   Partial KYC, lien creation failures, FD breakage post-issuance - each edge case was mapped, designed, and documented.

Highlights

Outcome

Live in market. The card control system I designed for this product now ships on KVB, Nykaa, and every subsequent credit card on Falcon's platform.