Payment method pre-selection

Question

Here's a quick summary of the problem: the app I'm working on can have multiple payment methods added (saved) by the user. They can use them for making trips and purchases in the app. I'm not sure how to model the process of which payment method is pre-selected for the user when they're purchasing something. Here are a couple of options I've considered:

• A - no built-in preference system, just pre-select the last used payment method

• B - have a 'preferred' payment option where users always have one payment method as pre-selected each time they make purchase (payment method could be changed to a different one prior to purchase)

What do you think are pros/cons of each? I guess it comes down to behavior - whether you want to have a preferred option that you will use 9 times out of 10 or you switch between payment methods more frequently and want your last used option to be saved.

Answer 1

There are specific reasons why you would go with one particular strategy or another spending on how much information you have on individual or user group behaviour.

However, keep in mind that a can also implement a dynamic option that stars new users with no preference system, and for non-guest user accounts you can store previous selections and provide the most frequently used or last selection.

Answer 2

Let the user decide.

Having a default payment method could either be a really great, or really frustrating experience depending on which payment method the user wants to use and what they expect to see. Not every user picks the same payment method every time they want to check out.

Instead of forcing the user to choose a default, you could provide the user with a simple checkbox that allows the system to remember the selected payment method for future payments, much like the pattern used to remember a login session.