Introducing
Milestones - A Scalable System to Incentivize Everyday Payments
Product
TWID - Pay with Rewards app
Goal
Increase repeat usage of reward points for payments and grow daily UPI GMV.
TL;DR – What is TWID?
TWID is India’s first “Pay with Rewards” platform -turning your bank and brand loyalty points into a payment mode. Users can Earn, Track, and Spend reward points across UPI, bills, and merchants payments using Scan and pay & Intent Payments.
Challenge
In Milestone V1 'Pay with Rewards' gained quick traction, but users stopped after a single transaction. They claimed their reward and left. The challenge was to build a system that encouraged ongoing usage - turning a one-time action into repeat behavior, without overwhelming users or adding unnecessary complexity.
Existing Milestones
MIlestone Core loop
Zero state
Milestone Active
Milestone Achieved
We launched Milestone V1 to drive onboarding and it did the job
but fell flat right after
The idea was simple. Reward users for completing key actions like linking their UPI or doing their first Scan & Pay. And honestly, it worked. We saw a good spike in new users. But the moment they got their reward, they dropped off.
There was no reason to return.
It felt like handing out a welcome gift then closing the door.
No progression. No journey. No hook to keep going.
We also started seeing cracks:
Users were confused about eligibility. Refunds, time windows, edge cases... it wasn’t clear.
Some users exploited it. They figured out how to trigger a refund right after a transaction and still claim the reward.
User got stuck here - there is nothing beyond this
So after V1, we hit pause. We asked ourselves, what are we missing?
To build Milestone V2, we didn’t jump straight into design. We started by observing real behavior. We looked at how users were engaging with the feature and what patterns were showing up. Then we zoomed out and studied what the rest of the ecosystem was doing.
From our users, a few things stood out:
Most users did a single transaction to grab the reward and never came back
Refunds and partial payments created confusion. People didn’t know if they still qualified
There was a strong need for visibility. Users wanted to see progress and understand what’s next
Users loved the core idea. Milestones clicked. The engagement spike proved that. We just hadn’t built anything worth sticking around for.
So we started studying products that build habits at scale
We examined Apps like Duolingo, Sweatcoin, and Cred had something in common. They all used progress loops. Checkpoints. Visual nudges. Light feedback. The kind of mechanics that turn single actions into streaks.
We took away three key insights:
Users stay more invested when rewards are tied to checkpoints instead of one-time goals
Breaking milestones into tiers or phases helps people feel progress
If milestones are not visible, they won’t convert. They need to show up where it matters
With everything we learned, we shaped a simple hypothesis
What if we introduced multi-checkpoint milestones instead of one-off rewards?
Would that help users feel progress and stay engaged?
We believed that if users could see how far they'd come, and how close they were to the next win, they'd stick around longer. We also wanted to fix the confusion from V1. So clarity around eligibility was key. No fine print. Just consistent rules and visible checkpoints.
But we had some constraints
The product team was clear. No major changes to core flows. We couldn’t afford to disrupt the app experience or slow down other roadmaps.
Stakeholders also had a point. Milestones had to feel like part of the system. They had to work alongside Offers, Bill Payments, UPI and Rewards without hijacking the interface. And most importantly, the framework had to be flexible. Growth teams needed the ability to run quick experiments without waiting for full-scale builds.
So the goal was to build something lightweight but powerful.
Something that felt native and drove value without requiring users to learn something new.
Milestone v2
We took everything we learned and rebuilt Milestones as a behavioral system, not just a reward mechanic
Milestone V2 introduced checkpoint-based goals. Instead of one reward, users could now hit multiple levels. For example, complete 2 transactions, get ₹50. Do 5, unlock ₹100. The idea was to show steady progress and reward consistent action.
We also broke milestones down by transaction type.
Scan & Pay had its own track. Online payments had another. So did our partner merchants. This gave users more paths to explore and reduced friction. No more guessing what counts.
We made every milestone state visually distinct. Whether a goal was active, completed, expired or disqualified, users could see exactly where they stood. No ambiguity.
And to bring it all together, we added real-time nudges. During transactions, users would get subtle prompts showing how close they were to their next reward. It made the flow feel responsive and alive.
The result was a system that didn’t just reward action. It shaped behavior.
We redesigned how progress feels
The feature uses progress rings and icons to show a clear path.
Each step gives checkmark feedback to keep users moving.
Cues like ‘4/5 completed’ build urgency at the right moment.
Reward previews reinforce what’s coming next.A consistent layout keeps it familiar and easy to follow.
Color shifts subtly guide focus and signal flow.Every element works together to make progress feel natural and rewarding.
🎥 Here’s how the feature comes to life
From the homepage, users discover active milestones right away.
They track progress in real time as they transact, with subtle nudges at key moments.
Each action builds toward a clear reward, creating a natural loop.
It’s fully integrated into the journey, so nothing feels forced.
The experience is smooth, rewarding, and habit-forming by design.
Milestone on Homepage
Milestone on Homepage
The feature is flexible by design
You can reward users based on what matters: frequency, spend, or intent.
Transaction-based milestones track the number of eligible actions
GMV milestones link rewards to total spend using points
Partial payouts unlock rewards in stages to keep users engaged longer
This structure gives growth teams the freedom to target different behaviors without changing the core experience.
Types of Milestones
Transaction Based Milestone
GMV Based Milestones
Partial Payout transaction
The results spoke for themselves
Within hours of launch, we saw a sharp spike in engagement.
UPI GMV jumped by 50% in a single day. No push campaigns. Just product doing the work.
The feature created new momentum across teams.
It became a key lever in business partnerships and cross-team collaborations, backed by clear engagement metrics.
It’s now a modular part of the TWID ecosystem, built to scale across use cases, from onboarding to long-term retention.
Reflection & What’s Next
After rolling out the feature, a few things were clear.
What Worked:
Visual progress and real-time feedback kept users engaged
Clear eligibility rules helped build trust
Internal teams had more control over how and when milestones were triggered
What Could Be Better:
The feature still needed better visibility across the app
We saw an opportunity to build smarter, behavior-driven milestones
Next Up:
We’re working on personalized milestones based on each user’s transaction history
Haptics and small delight moments to elevate the experience
Progressive tiers that reward deeper engagement
Smart reminders for missed or nearly completed goals
More contextual touchpoints that guide users without adding friction
Before vs After
V1 was simple and transactional. One-time reward. No journey.
V2 created a sense of progress, improved engagement, and unlocked new levers for growth and partnerships.
Before
After
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