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Lower Income US Bank Credit Card Pain Points Testing Report

Comprehensive analysis of 226 customer-sourced solutions tested on 2,000 digital twins representing lower income banking customers

226
Ideas Tested
2,000
Digital Twins
5
Metrics Evaluated
10
Categories

01 — Project Overview

Research Methodology

A comprehensive 8-step process to identify and validate credit card solutions for lower income customers

This report presents findings from a comprehensive study testing solutions to credit card pain points for lower income US bank customers. The study used Brox.AI digital twins to evaluate 226 unique ideas across multiple dimensions.

What Are Digital Twins?

Brox.AI digital twins are one-to-one AI representations of real people. Each digital twin is created from extensive survey data, behavioral patterns, and preference profiles collected from actual customers. These digital representations accurately simulate how real individuals would respond to new products, features, and ideas—enabling rapid testing at scale without the time and cost of traditional focus groups or surveys. Our digital twins predict actual human decisions with 85-93% accuracy.

Step 1
Identify Pain Points
Surveyed 2,000+ lower income bank customers about credit card pain points and their suggested solutions
Step 2
Create Comparison Set
Generated additional solutions using ChatGPT for comparison against human ideas
Step 3
Structure Suggestions
Formatted all human suggestions into testable format for evaluation
Step 4
Categorize
Assigned each idea to one of 10 categories for organized analysis
Step 5
Initial Testing
Tested all 226 ideas on 300 digital twins across 5 metrics
Step 6
Filter Top Ideas
Selected top 15 ideas based on index scores for deep analysis
Step 7
Final Testing
Tested 15 finalists on all 2,000 digital twins for comprehensive validation
Step 8
Produce Report
Compiled results, insights, and strategic recommendations

02 — Categories & Metrics

Evaluation Framework

10 idea categories evaluated across 5 key metrics on a 1-5 scale

Idea Categories

Credit Limit Management
Security & Authentication
Rewards & Benefits
Customer Support & Service
Spending Controls & Alerts
App & Interface Usability
Mobile & Digital Payments
Installment & Payment Flexibility
Fees & Interest Rates
Transparency & Clarity

Evaluation Metrics (1-5 Scale)

Importance
How important would this idea be to you if implemented by your bank?
Relevance
How relevant would this solution be to your credit card experiences?
Effectiveness
How effective do you think this idea is at solving the pain point?
Switching Likelihood
How likely would you be to switch banks if another implemented this?
Innovation
How innovative do you think this idea is in solving a pain point?

Index Score: Sum of all 5 metric averages. Maximum possible score: 25 points. Provides a comprehensive measure of each idea's overall potential.


03 — Executive Summary

Key Findings

Three critical insights from the comprehensive pain points analysis of lower income customers

1

Clear Winner Identified

'Fair Interest and Approved Deduction Policy' achieved the highest Index Score of 21.5/25, demonstrating strong performance across all metrics with lower income customers.

2

Fees Dominate Customer Priorities

11 of 15 top ideas (69%) relate to fees and interest rates. This overwhelming concentration indicates that cost-related pain points are the primary concern for lower income credit card customers.

3

Human Ideas Outperform AI

Human-generated ideas scored 17.3 average index vs ChatGPT's 15.5 — a 12% higher performance. Real customer insights prove more valuable than AI-generated solutions.

21.5
Winning Score (/25)
69%
Fee-Related Ideas in Top 15
+12%
Human vs AI Performance

04 — Final Rankings

Top 15 Ideas

Final scores from comprehensive testing on 2,000 lower income customer digital twins

Rank Idea Name Category Important Relevant Effective Switching Innovation Index
1 Fair Interest and Approved Deduction Policy Fees & Interest 4.43 4.22 4.53 3.80 4.52 21.5
2 Fee Elimination and Full Transparency Fees & Interest 4.52 4.27 4.79 3.90 3.79 21.3
3 No-Annual-Fee Essential Needs Card Program Fees & Interest 4.59 4.52 4.74 3.56 3.73 21.1
4 Interest-Free Card and Installment Plan Fees & Interest 4.41 4.25 4.34 3.68 4.33 21.0
5 Fee Transparency and Annual Fee Elimination Fees & Interest 4.50 4.38 4.69 3.53 3.74 20.8
6 Instant Fraud Alert and Verification Call Security 4.66 4.11 4.62 3.09 4.34 20.8
7 1% Interest Installment Card and Minimum Payment Interest Waiver Credit Limit 3.99 4.02 4.44 3.50 4.40 20.4
8 No-Annual-Fee Credit Card Fees & Interest 4.51 4.47 4.87 3.55 2.83 20.2
9 Interest and Commission Reduction Program Fees & Interest 4.33 4.23 4.42 3.65 3.42 20.1
10 Annual Card Fee Elimination or Automatic Refund Fees & Interest 4.27 4.21 4.70 3.30 3.41 19.9
11 Fast Service and Instant Support Support 4.38 4.13 4.59 3.16 3.52 19.8
12 Daily Interest and Debt Transparency Notifications Fees & Interest 4.04 3.94 4.41 2.48 4.09 19.0
13 Half-Price Card Interest for Payroll Customers Fees & Interest 3.80 3.57 4.34 3.21 3.66 18.6
14 Instant Approved Limit Increase Credit Limit 3.38 3.57 4.29 2.43 4.05 17.7

05 — Qualitative Insights

Key Insights from Top Ideas

Patterns and themes emerging from the highest-performing solutions for lower income customers

Cost Sensitivity is Paramount
Lower income US bank customers show extreme sensitivity to fees and interest. The dominance of fee-related ideas suggests this should be the primary focus for improvements.
Annual Fee Elimination Desired
Multiple top ideas address annual fees. Ideas proposing elimination or usage-based waivers scored consistently high across all metrics with this demographic.
Transparency Drives Effectiveness
Ideas mentioning transparent fees scored higher on effectiveness. Fee elimination combined with transparency achieved 4.8/5 on Effectiveness.
Security Innovation Valued
Instant Fraud Alert scored highest on Innovation (4.3/5). Proactive fraud detection with instant notification resonates strongly with lower income customers.
Switching Likelihood Modest
Even best ideas only scored 3.9/5 on switching, suggesting customer loyalty exists. However, improvements remain valuable for retention strategies.
Interest-Free Alternatives Work
'Interest-Free Card' performed strongly at 21.0/25. Replacing interest with fixed fees appeals to cost-conscious lower income customers.
Instant Services In Demand
Ideas related to instant limit management scored well. Lower income customers want real-time control via mobile-first processes for credit decisions.
Support Speed Matters
'Fast Service' ranked 11th with strong effectiveness (4.6/5). Reducing wait times and providing instant support is highly valued by this segment.

06 — Category Analysis

Results by Category

Average Index Scores across all 10 idea categories (Initial Testing)

Installment & Payment Flexibility
18.4
Customer Support & Service
18.4
Fees & Interest Rates
18.3
Transparency & Clarity
17.4
Security & Authentication
17.1
Rewards & Benefits
16.8
Credit Limit Management
16.8
Spending Controls & Alerts
16.7
App & Interface Usability
16.1
Mobile & Digital Payments
15.6

Key Insight: The top 3 categories all score above 18.3/25, with Installment & Payment Flexibility and Customer Support sharing the lead at 18.4. However, Fees & Interest Rates has the most ideas (46) providing more actionable solutions for lower income customers.


07 — Human vs AI

Human vs AI-Generated Ideas

Comparative performance analysis between customer-sourced and ChatGPT-generated solutions

Human-Generated Ideas
17.3
Average Index Score (/25)
198
Ideas Tested
Winner +12%
ChatGPT-Generated Ideas
15.5
Average Index Score (/25)
28
Ideas Tested

Performance Breakdown by Metric

Source Ideas Important Relevant Effectiveness Switching Innovation Index
Human 198 3.6 3.6 4.1 2.6 3.5 17.3
ChatGPT 28 3.1 3.0 3.7 2.2 3.5 15.5

Strategic Implication: Human-sourced ideas consistently outperform AI across all metrics except Innovation (tied at 3.5). This validates the value of customer research and suggests continued investment in gathering direct feedback from lower income customers for product development.


08 — Recommendations

Strategic Recommendations

Strategic priorities based on research findings for serving lower income customers

Immediate Priorities
1.
Review and reduce annual card fees or implement usage-based fee waivers for lower income customers
2.
Improve fee transparency in app and statements
3.
Consider introducing an interest-free card alternative with fixed fees tailored to lower income segments
Medium-Term Initiatives
4.
Implement proactive fraud detection with instant customer notification
5.
Develop real-time credit limit management through mobile app
6.
Create tiered interest rates rewarding on-time payment history
Strategic Considerations
7.
Human-sourced ideas outperformed AI — continue investing in customer research with lower income demographics
8.
Focus retention efforts on fee-related value propositions
9.
Consider payroll customer benefits for lower rates

09 — Initial Testing Leaders

Top 6 Ideas from Initial Testing

Highest performers from the initial 300 digital twin evaluation

Idea Category Important Relevant Effectiveness Switching Innovation Index
No-Annual-Fee Essential Needs Card Fees & Interest 4.4 4.4 4.6 3.4 3.9 20.7
Fee Elimination and Transparency Fees & Interest 4.5 3.9 4.7 3.9 3.6 20.6
Fair Interest Policy Fees & Interest 4.4 4.1 4.3 3.5 4.3 20.6
No-Annual-Fee Credit Card Fees & Interest 4.4 4.3 4.9 3.8 3.1 20.5
Instant Fraud Alert Security 4.6 3.9 4.6 3.1 4.3 20.5
1% Interest Installment Card Credit Limit 4.0 4.0 4.6 3.4 4.5 20.5

Digital twins that predict actual human decisions with 85-93% accuracy

About Our Digital Twins

Each of our 2,000 digital twins is a one-to-one AI representation of a real person. Built from comprehensive behavioral data and preference profiles, these digital representations accurately simulate how real individuals respond to products, features, and ideas—enabling rapid, large-scale testing that would be impossible with traditional research methods.

226
Ideas Tested
2,000
Digital Twins
21.5
Top Score (/25)

For more information: contact@brox.ai