Costco Business Card Warehouse

Company:

CIBC

Role:

Product Design Lead

Year:

2024

Duration:

6.5 months

Overview

In March 2022, CIBC became the exclusive issuer of Costco’s co-branded personal credit cards. Building on that partnership, we set out to launch a new CIBC Costco Business Mastercard application flow—designed specifically for business clients applying in Costco warehouses—to help expand CIBC and Costco’s reach in the business credit card market.

Problem

Right now, CIBC Costco Business Card applications are only available online or in-person at warehouses—but business customers can’t actually apply on the spot, which has contributed to a drop in sales. This initiative aimed to fix that by introducing in-store tablet applications, making the process easier and more accessible to drive up conversions.

Solution

To solve this, I designed an experience that supports both Costco warehouse agents and business clients by guiding in-the-moment conversations and capturing only the most essential information up front.

Reference: The Current experience applying for a Costco Business Mastercard

Personal Field Study

To better understand the experience of current and potential Costco Business Mastercard clients applying at the warehouse, I decided to pay a visit (after my own Costco shopping of course).

After inquiring about the Costco Business Mastercard, the associate handed me a pamphlet detailing the Costco Personal Mastercard. He then directed me to scan a QR code to sign up for the card via the CIBC mobile app or online banking at cibc.com.

Key takeaways from this experience:

I felt a bit discouraged that I couldn't apply for the card on the spot, especially for a business card, as potential clients might forget important business details, which could prevent them from starting the application.
When I asked for more details, he explained that it would require multiple business details for authentication, but he didn’t provide specifics on what exactly was needed.
I would have preferred an immediate side-by-side comparison between the personal and business credit cards, which could have led directly to the application process, rather than just being given a pamphlet to take away.

To better understand the experience of current and potential Costco Business Mastercard clients applying at the warehouse, I decided to pay a visit (after my own Costco shopping of course).

Key takeaways from this experience:

I felt a bit discouraged that I couldn't apply for the card on the spot, especially for a business card, as potential clients might forget important business details, which could prevent them from starting the application.
When I asked for more details, he explained that it would require multiple business details for authentication, but he didn’t provide specifics on what exactly was needed.
I would have preferred an immediate side-by-side comparison between the personal and business credit cards, which could have led directly to the application process, rather than just being given a pamphlet to take away.

Opportunity

In the current experience, there is no landing page for business customers to choose between applying for a personal or business card—creating a gap in the end-to-end flow. We wanted to address this by introducing a clear starting point:

Reference: UXR & Design Brainstorming Sessions

Brainstorming sessions

During the design process, I held weekly brainstorming sessions on FigJam with QA, Dev, UXR, BSA, and stakeholders to gather diverse perspectives and identify potential challenges.

Some common trends from the discussions were:

The first part of the digitally fulfilled experience should be assisted by a Costco employee in the warehouse, with the second part being completed independently by the client.
Clearly highlight and compare the perks of business vs. personal credit cards.
Identify the key drop-off points in both the current CIBC Business Card Application and the new CIBC Business Card Application process.

During the design process, I held weekly brainstorming sessions on FigJam with QA, Dev, UXR, BSA, and stakeholders to gather diverse perspectives and identify potential challenges.

Some common trends from the discussions were:

The first part of the digitally fulfilled experience should be assisted by a Costco employee in the warehouse, with the second part being completed independently by the client.
Clearly highlight and compare the perks of business vs. personal credit cards.
Identify the key drop-off points in both the current CIBC Business Card Application and the new CIBC Business Card Application process.

🎉 New State: Landing Page

On the new landing page, I focused on clearly separating the personal and business CIBC Costco Mastercard products.

Based on insights from brainstorming and field research, I designed a clean, side-by-side layout that highlights key differences, and jump straight into the right application flow.

On the new landing page, I focused on clearly separating the personal and business CIBC Costco Mastercard products.

Based on insights from brainstorming and field research, I designed a clean, side-by-side layout that highlights key differences, and jump straight into the right application flow.

🎉 New State: Before You Begin Page

Instead of cramming all the business, legal, and compliance requirements onto a single landing page, each product now includes a dedicated “Before You Begin” page.

This approach helps reduce cognitive load, making it easier for users to understand key conditions upfront and move forward with the application.

Instead of cramming all the business, legal, and compliance requirements onto a single landing page, each product now includes a dedicated “Before You Begin” page.

This approach helps reduce cognitive load, making it easier for users to understand key conditions upfront and move forward with the application.

Updated State: Deferrable Pages

During brainstorming, we identified a common friction point—clients often don’t have key business details on hand, which can block them from starting the application.

To address this, we built a flexible flow that lets users skip certain questions and complete them later via email or a follow-up from support. This helped reduce drop-off and kept the momentum going.

During brainstorming, we identified a common friction point—clients often don’t have key business details on hand, which can block them from starting the application.

Reference: In production screens

Initial Launch Results

Since we launched the Costco warehouse application system last September, we've seen an 12% increase in Costco Business Mastercard applications, with around 130 applications per day (during peak 8 hours) and about 15 applications per hour at each Costco location across Canada.