Inside the Build with Cleo x Method
In this conversation, Cleo’s Lead Product Manager sits down with Method to unpack how the teams partnered to build an AI-powered financial assistant and dashboard to help users see all their debt in one place and pay it down faster. You’ll learn:
Why Cleo built Debt Reset and the user problems it solves
How real-time financial connectivity drives user activation, engagement, and retention
Lessons learned going from prototype to launch
Interested in building something similar?
If you have 5 minutes, here’s the key takeaways from each chapter:
0:00
Intro: Building Debt Reset at Cleo
Debt Reset was built to help users understand and act on their debt, not just view it.
0:32
From Notion Doc to Product Vision
The initial concept lived in a short Notion doc with a rough hypothesis: if users could see all their debt in one place, they would be more willing to engage with it. Over the next year, Cleo tested and refined that idea, validating demand before expanding scope.
1:41
The Problem Cleo Is Solving
Cleo’s users often manage multiple liabilities across different accounts with little visibility or prioritization. Debt creates stress, avoidance, and decision fatigue. Debt Reset was designed to reduce that burden by simplifying both the information and the experience of engaging with it.
5:30
Giving Users Full Visibility Into Their Debts
Manual debt tracking limits product usefulness and user follow-through.
While users can technically find their debt information, doing so requires effort. Cleo explains why relying on self-reported data prevents proactive product experiences, and why automated, up-to-date liability data is foundational to meaningful debt management.
7:44
Build vs Buy: Why Cleo Partnered With Method
Cleo chose to partner so they could focus on user experience instead of maintaining complex financial data infrastructure.
Building liability connectivity in-house would have required constant investment to maintain accuracy and coverage.
Method provided the reliability and coverage Cleo needed, and worked as a product partner contributing to solution design as the product evolved.
“[Method] had the coverage we needed… if I have a mortgage and student loan and a car loan, a couple of credit cards, how many of those was Method able to capture? How many could you see, and then how accurate was that data as well? … There’s one thing seeing and it’s another thing playing out back to us and it being right. We were really happy from the start with Method on those numbers… that big tick.” -Tom Knight, Lead Product Manger at Cleo
12:00
From Prototype to Launch
The first version of Debt Reset prioritized correctness over sophistication.
Early prototypes focused on one core question: can we accurately surface a user’s debts at scale? The MVP was intentionally simple, allowing Cleo to validate that users found value in visibility alone before investing in more advanced features like paydown strategies.
12:16
Designing for the Emotional Reality of Debt
Debt products must account for how users emotionally interpret different types of debt.
Cleo avoided treating all liabilities equally. Mortgages, credit cards, and personal loans carry different emotional weight. Design choices such as separating certain balances, softening language, and giving users control over when they see totals were made to reduce anxiety and increase engagement.
20:06
How Debt Reset Drives Subscription Value
Debt Reset strengthens Cleo’s subscription by increasing perceived usefulness and daily relevance. Cleo integrated Debt Reset into premium subscription tiers.
25:17
Lessons Learned and What’s Next
Start with fundamentals, ship earlier, and let user behavior guide iteration.
With a stable foundation in place, the team is now focused on deeper integration across the Cleo ecosystem and expanding support for users at different financial stages.
Read Cleo's full case study here.
