Unlocking financial opportunities for credit invisibles — migrants whose credit history doesn't cross borders. Consumer app, merchant app, and internal tooling, designed and product-managed solo.
When individuals relocate to a new country, their credit history doesn't follow them. Migrants become "invisible" to the financial system in their new country — unable to access credit cards, loans, or mortgages because they have no local history. Businesses serving this demographic also lack the data they need to make informed lending decisions.
This data gap creates barriers on both sides. Ndewo was built to close it — using migrants' existing credit and financial data from their home countries to build a portable financial identity. I was solely responsible for all design work from discovery to delivery, while also product-managing the project.
I designed and product-managed the consumer app (Android and iOS), the merchant app (offering APIs, lending, renting, and verification services), a company website, and an internal tool for user and business management.
I began with secondary research to understand the scale of the problem, grounding the project in published data before speaking to anyone.
Immigrants "credit invisible" and at risk of financial exclusion Experian, March 2023
Customers financial institutions are missing out on serving Forbes, April 2023
People living outside their country of nationality (2.3% of world population) World Bank, 2023
Beyond the data, I conducted primary research with 15 migrants to gather direct insights.
Tried to apply for credit cards and loans immediately upon arriving in the country
Didn't know their home credit history exists or what makes up a credit file
Don't track their finances and have no insight into their spending
Four user needs shaped the product scope. Four design principles guided every decision made in the process.
To reduce reliance on developers, I learned to run POST, PUT, and GET requests in Postman and read JSON files in VSCode — pulling raw data directly from credit bureaus, bank APIs, and internally-created algorithms. This allowed me to explore data independently and design interfaces around how it actually behaved, not how I assumed it would.
I collaborated with the developer to pull credit bureau data in JSON via Postman, extracted the meaningful data points, and organised them into categories users could understand. Presented alongside detailed explanations of what affects their score.
Designed with a conversation specialist, mirroring the ChatGPT interface for familiarity. Helps users understand how to establish and maintain a positive credit history. Built for users across all financial literacy levels.
Data extracted from bank statements. Cash flow analysis, spending categories, and a Financial Health Score (algorithm built with the dev team) that shows users how their spending habits affect their credit access.
Merges credit histories from the user's previous and current countries to generate a BetaScore. Once integrated, the consolidated report is presented to merchants and lenders — enabling credit access that was previously impossible.
Once a BetaScore is generated, users can access credit products (cards, loans, car finance, mortgages) from partnered providers. A gamified monthly review (Spend Here) rewards users with points and streaks for reviewing their spending data each month.
Testers raised concerns about identity theft. Added explicit security callouts throughout sensitive data flows and designed a clear consent architecture.
Testers wanted reduced colour usage throughout the app. Toned down the palette, increased contrast ratios, and simplified the visual hierarchy in V2.
Testers wanted more data in the financial section. Expanded the Enrich feature to include cash flow analysis, spending targets, and category breakdowns in V2.
"Scope ruthlessly when you're the only designer and PM. The features we cut were just as important as the ones we shipped — a focused, polished v1 is worth more than a broad, unfinished one."