Nova Bank

The Challenge

The founder had spent 14 years in banking and watched every major bank ship the same app with a different logo. None were built for how people actually manage money today. He wanted to build a neobank experience from scratch, one that felt fast, premium and trustworthy. In banking, design is trust.

The Approach

Mapped out the core experience across four pillars: a dashboard that surfaces balances, cards and budgets in a single scroll. A card management system with instant freeze, spending limits and real-time transaction feeds. A payments hub for peer-to-peer transfers and recurring bill management. And a budget tracker that works automatically against daily and monthly spending patterns.

Built a personalized home screen showing total balance across all accounts, linked cards with individual balances and a daily budget tracker. A card detail view with one-tap freeze and spending limit controls. A payments screen with instant send and request, contact shortcuts and upcoming bill reminders. The visual language was deliberate: black and chartreuse, rounded cards, bold typography. It needed to feel like a product people would show their friends.

The Outcome

Launched to a waitlist of 3,200 people. The first week saw 840 activations. Users said it was the first banking app where they actually understood their money at a glance. Two weeks after launch, the founder closed a seed round. Investors said the product quality was what convinced them to back the team.