Velocity Pay with Points

Virgin's Velocity program lets members earn and redeem points on flights, upgrades, car hire, hotels, and more with over 80 partners. Despite accumulating points, many users fail to redeem them – often due to confusing processes, opaque value, and an inability to spend points on the items or experiences they desire. This causes frustration for users and challenges for Virgin, as points not yet redeemed reflect an obligation to provide future services. Pay with Points addresses these challenges by allowing Velocity members use their points for everyday spending.

Pay with Points embeds seamlessly into the shopping experience. Users link their card once in the Velocity app and can redeem points after spending at partner retailers. The App guides users through set-up with progressive onboarding, ensures no disruption to the payment flow, and users receive credit back on purchases into their accounts within days. The Pay with Points design had to bridge two technology systems: loyalty and banking. The team overcame tight integration constraints, provided users with instant feedback for redemptions, and clearly communicated point value in real-world terms.

Symplicit and Virgin applied rigorous user testing throughout the product development process to quantify design impact: Single Ease Question (SEQ) – Single ease question was asked during user testing at the completion of key tasks: linking a bank card and redeeming points. Both tasks performed in the top quartile, scoring 6.6/7. Task completion rates – Designers captured task completion rates for key tasks throughout testing. This feedback loop removed task completion blockers, with both linking of card and points redemption achieving 100% task completion success rates.

Progressive onboarding: A visually engaging, context-aware storyboard educates users who haven’t made a qualifying purchase yet. It reinforces the mental model of “spend first, redeem later,” driving clarity and confidence in usage. Simple card linking: Pay with Points allows users to easily link their bank card to their Pay with Points account in the Velocity App, which eliminates extra steps at the point of purchase. Purchases at participating retailers automatically trigger a redemption opportunity, which is displayed to users in an elegantly designed transaction list. Near real-time redemption: After making a qualifying purchase, users are instantly notified and can redeem points via the App – letting them adjust the amount of cash back they redeem. Dynamic points display: The interface clearly translates points into real-world value (e.g., "$50 back for X points"), eliminating ambiguity and boosting perceived value.