A unified banking experience for credit consumers across every device
Digital Scientists partnered with Atlanticus to design and build the Fortiva mobile app and desktop portal, giving consumers a single dashboard to manage multiple credit accounts, track spending, and improve their credit score.
3
Credit Brands Unified
2
Platforms (iOS & Android)
30+
Competitor Apps Researched
4
Responsive Breakpoints
A state-of-the-art account management tool for credit consumers
Fortiva, a subsidiary of Atlanticus Holdings, provides financial solutions to consumers with less-than-perfect credit. They contacted Digital Scientists to create a modern account management tool for their credit consumers -- including a new banking portal and mobile apps with modern banking features.
For credit customers at Fortiva, the process of managing one or multiple accounts online was cumbersome and opaque. By allowing customers to view multiple accounts from a single dashboard, the effort required to view and manage accounts and preferences would be greatly reduced. The new solution needed to improve accessibility from mobile and desktop devices, promote good credit habits through real-time information and smart defaults, create opportunities for deeper engagement with existing customers, and increase trust in the Fortiva and Atlanticus brands.
Our design and engineering teams worked together with Fortiva product leadership to create an entirely new and unified customer interface for their three primary credit offerings: Fortiva Retail Credit, Fortiva Credit Card, and Fortiva Personal Loans.
Fragmented account management across multiple credit brands
Fortiva customers faced significant friction managing their credit accounts. Working with Fortiva, Digital Scientists heard many pain points from current customers that needed to be resolved in the new experience.
Redundant Account Creation
Customers were required to create an account again after already signing up for credit, causing frustration and drop-off.
Difficult AutoPay Setup
Setting up autopay across multiple accounts was too hard, leading to missed payments and late fees.
No Smart Payment Guidance
Customers needed help making smart decisions about when and how much to pay, but the existing tools offered no guidance.
No Credit Score Visibility
Users had no way to know if they were improving their credit score or not, undermining the core value of building credit.
Hard to Accept New Offers
Signing up for additional credit offers required re-entering personal information, creating unnecessary barriers to growth.
No Mobile Experience
Consumers had no native mobile app for managing accounts on the go, despite the industry shift toward mobile-first banking.
Current user journey map — identifying pain points across account creation, setup, management, and upsell flows
Competitive research across 30+ fintech apps to benchmark the experience
Digital Scientists conducted extensive comparative research across the fintech landscape, studying over 30 competitors and complementary products including Capital One, Chase, Discover, American Express, Mint, Credit Karma, Simple, Chime, Venmo, and others. This research informed persona development, feature prioritization, and visual design decisions.
Business Goals
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Show consumers the benefit of getting credit at the right time and the value Fortiva offers
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Help customers plan spending and credit limit usage so they won't default
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Improve payment consistency so credit scores improve and customers earn higher credit limits
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Encourage use of Fortiva for more services and drive referrals to friends
Product Goals
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Refine and prioritize features with the Fortiva product team
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Create wireframe-to-mockup layouts for mobile and desktop account management
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Create a unified visual design and style guide for development handoff
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Define KPIs for customer usage across segments and plan for a reporting dashboard
A responsive desktop dashboard with full account management
The desktop portal gives Fortiva customers a comprehensive view of all their credit accounts, with tabbed navigation for Summary, Statements, Payments, Account settings, and Support. Multiple brand variations were designed to support Fortiva's retail partners.
A native mobile experience built for on-the-go account management
The Fortiva mobile app supports all three primary credit brands -- Fortiva Retail Credit, Fortiva Credit Card, and Fortiva Personal Loans -- in a single, unified interface. Users can switch between accounts, make payments, view spending summaries, and track their VantageScore, all from their phone.
Secure authentication with multiple options
Users can sign in with username and password, TouchID fingerprint authentication, or PIN access. The app supports biometric security for quick access while maintaining enterprise-grade security for financial data.
The streamlined onboarding flow eliminates redundant account creation -- if a customer already has Fortiva credit, they can set up mobile access without re-entering all their information.
Multi-account dashboard at a glance
The My Accounts view provides a list of all linked credit accounts with balances, minimum payments, and due dates at a glance for quick reference. Users can access any number of Fortiva-serviced accounts from within the mobile app.
Each account displays branded partner logos (Home Depot, Bob Mills, etc.) alongside account numbers and statement balances, making it easy to identify and manage each credit line.
Account detail with spending insights
Current statement details and the ability to make a payment are prominently shown. A spending summary donut chart breaks down transactions by category -- merchandise, communications, business services, restaurants, travel, and more.
Users can view recent and pending transactions, access balance details, see available credit, and monitor their rewards balance, all from the account detail screen.
Streamlined payment management
The payment flow was designed with three options explored during the concept phase -- accordion pane, modal, and dedicated page -- with the final design providing a clear, step-by-step experience for making one-time payments, scheduling future payments, and setting up AutoPay.
Users can pay via ACH or debit card, with the ability to schedule, modify, and cancel payments. Multiple payment methods can be managed per account, and AutoPay status is shown prominently for peace of mind.
A comprehensive feature set designed around real consumer needs
Multi-Account Dashboard
View all Fortiva credit accounts from a single dashboard with balances, available credit, minimum payments, and due dates.
Biometric Authentication
Login with username/password, fingerprint (TouchID), or PIN access for fast, secure account entry.
Spending Visualization
Category-based spending summary with donut charts showing distribution across merchandise, restaurants, travel, and more.
Smart Payments
One-time payments, scheduled future payments, and AutoPay setup via ACH or debit card with the ability to modify or cancel.
VantageScore Credit Tracking
Free VantageScore included with membership, showing how transactions and payment habits affect credit over time.
Smart Notifications
Customizable alerts for transactions, approaching spend limits, payment reminders, and suspicious activity detection.
Statement Management
View current and historical statements with yearly listings, click-through detail, and download/print capabilities.
Brand Variations
Multiple visual treatments supporting Fortiva's retail partners, with branded color schemes and partner logo integration.
Responsive Design
Fully responsive layouts across 4 breakpoints: desktop (1280px+), tablet landscape (1024px), tablet portrait (768px), and mobile (320px).
From concept to production-ready design and code
Our design and engineering teams worked together with Fortiva product leadership through the complete product development lifecycle -- from destination and positioning sessions, persona assessment, and comparative research, through wireframes, visual design treatments, and fully functional prototypes.
UX design including user journey mapping, wireframes, and visual design treatments across multiple brand variations
iOS and Android mobile app development using Ionic 2 framework
Responsive React.js desktop web portal with 4 breakpoint layouts
Backend API definition, documentation, and security workflow validation
Competitive research across 30+ fintech applications with detailed feature benchmarking
KPI framework for payments, customer standing, notifications, and AutoPay adoption
A modern banking experience that increased trust and engagement
The re-envisioned Fortiva interfaces were very well received by customer leadership and by consumers in the app stores. The unified platform gave consumers a streamlined approach to plan their spending, set goals, improve payment consistency, and ultimately improve their credit score.
By providing a single, modern dashboard across mobile and desktop, Fortiva increased trust in the Fortiva and Atlanticus brands as well as their retail partners. The platform supported sophisticated fraud detection tools, biometric authentication, and a comprehensive notification system to keep customers informed and secure while managing their finances.
3
Credit brands unified under one app (Retail Credit, Credit Card, Personal Loans)
30+
Fintech competitors benchmarked during research phase
4
Responsive breakpoints from desktop to mobile
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