Experian Boost

Reimagining Credit Access for Millions

Centering my design philosophy on designing the impact, not the product, I approached this challenge by starting with real people’s stories.

Impact

35M+

Users Impacted

47%

Credit Score Improvement

13pts

Average Increase

12%

Credit Approval Growth

What if your Netflix subscription could help you buy a home? We turned this question into reality with the Experian Boost, transforming how everyday bill payments can build credit-score opportunities. By recognizing the bills people have already paid —from utilities to streaming services— we have helped millions of credit-invisible Americans gain recognition for their financial responsibility and unlock financial opportunities previously out of reach. Through Integration with the UltraFICO™ Score system and partnerships with 30+ financial institutions, our work pushed the boundaries of traditional credit scoring, delivering an average 13-point score improvement for over 35 million Americans who can instantly improve their FICO scores.

My Role

As a design lead reporting to the VP of design, I led design research and experience design for web and mobile devices for Boost features using mortgage and rent industry data that integrated the UltraFICO™ Score system in 30+ financial institutions.

Confidentiality: This case study's insights and design process reflect my perspective and design approach. Specific details have been modified to protect sensitive information from Experian while showcasing my design approach.

Project Duration: October - March 2019

Key Partners: FICO, Finicity, MasterCard.

Team: Fas Lebbie, John Adam, Brian Burgess

View Demo/Project Site Link

Problem Context

The current U.S. credit scoring system faces challenges, with 53 million consumers having no or sparse data and 79 million with FICO® scores below 680. This highlights a gap in assessing creditworthiness, especially for modern financial behavior. Many consumers who regularly pay utilities, streaming services, and phone bills find traditional models disregard these responsible actions. This discrepancy results from a credit evaluation framework that is not aligned with contemporary practices, leading to inequitable credit access. Experian recognizes the need for an approach that includes alternative data sources. By incorporating non-traditional financial behaviors, an opportunity exists to create a more inclusive system that better reflects creditworthiness.

Design
Interventions

The design intervention targets renters who regularly pay rent and utilities. Currently, 35% of credit-invisible Americans do not benefit from timely payments based on their credit scores. To address this, we propose Experian Boost. This app securely links users’ financial accounts and integrates rent and utilities payment history to evaluate financial reliability based on consistent bill payments. By recognizing these payments, boosted credit scores show an average 13-point improvement in credit scores.

Onboarding flow for first time users.

Users can Choose your bank account they want to connect with Experian

Flow showing transparency, privacy, and compliance for banking regulation

Securely connect your Chase bank account with Experian. Log in, authorize access, and select eligible accounts to link

Users can connect to supported banks banks such as Wells Fargo from our 30 financial institutions beta partnerships.

From securely linking your bank account with Experian, users enter rent and bank payment details.

Boost your credit score through consistent payments. For new bills without 3 months of history, we'll guide you on additional payments needed for a credit boost.

Complete app screens displaying the process for connecting a bank account and tracking rent payments.

Scroll to next section

My Approach

Centering my design philosophy on designing the impact, not the product, I approached this challenge by starting with real people’s stories. I began by gathering real user stories through interviews, taking on the role of an investigative journalist. This strategy shaped our design process, gaining a holistic perspective and creating more relevant interventions in terms of real-world impact.

Design Process

1. Baseline Information

Our first step towards a focused HMW question and research objective was to understand the concept of “thin files” in the financial sector, where approximately 53 million Americans lack sufficient credit histories for traditional scoring models. Many individuals display financial responsibility through regular bill payments but are overlooked by conventional credit systems. By utilizing both primary and secondary data and insights from the research participants, we explored how leveraging alternative payment data can transform these overlooked behaviors into valid indicators of creditworthiness. By understanding the “thin files” and the system within it, we hope to start the research work in a manner that grounds us to the realities of the most affected, which we also realized were mainly young adults, immigrants, and lower-income individuals previously deemed invisible by standard methods.

2. Design Research & Strategy

The research utilized an ethnographic approach, conducting 1:1 structured and semi-structured interviews with 50 participants to explore the financial inclusion challenges among marginalized communities, young individuals, and middle-aged adults facing credit struggles. Each 30-to 60-minute interview revealed personal stories that highlighted key insights. The complementary quantitative analysis revealed over $50 billion in unacknowledged monthly utility payments, validating our findings. To refine the solutions further, we engaged 28 users in iterative usability testing, ensuring that our design was simple, transparent, and immediately beneficial while addressing emotional barriers and trust concerns in financial data sharing.

3. Summary of Findings

This research identified opportunities to bridge the gap between reliable bill payment data and creditworthiness indicators. Participants managed utility payments and financial commitments but received no acknowledgment of their financial behavior. Our research found that 90% of participants had a low rate of large purchases that build credit but a high rate of consistent utility and rent payments. Annually, over $50 billion in utility payments goes unacknowledged in the US, missing the chance to link these payments to credit reliability. Most participants maintain a “thin file” lacking large credit transactions, yet their bill payments reflect actual creditworthiness. Additionally, 35% of Americans’ monthly rent and utility payments, totaling over $50 billion annually, do not contribute to their credit scores. Many renters do not pay utilities directly, making rental payments an overlooked avenue for credit improvement.

These insights present design interventions in traditional credit scoring methods, particularly for those below the Fico 680 credit score-seeking credit score empowerment. We propose an application to empower users to link accounts and securely streamline rent and utility transaction history. This platform would facilitate a simplified onboarding process, allowing users to enhance their credit scores through demonstrated financial responsibility. The MVP was built based on three use cases that our design solution must have.

Experience design must have the best practices for usability and accessibility in the financial regulatory fintech space to ensure individuals can quickly link financial data.
The design must integrate Utility and Rent Data to capture payment histories and translate regular payment behavior into credit-boosting opportunities.
Experience design augments security measures that ensure users’ data security and ease of use, paramount for fostering trust and encouraging adoption.

4. Prototyping & Implementation Strategy

Our prototyping process emphasized three essential components: seamless and secure bank linking, clear visualization of potential credit score enhancements, and intuitive step-by-step guidance throughout the app experience. Testing with 28 users provided valuable feedback, leading to refinements in each interaction. Key insights revealed that 92% of users prioritized transparency in financial services, 88% favored mobile-first solutions, and 76% required clear value demonstrations before sharing data. Implementation involved a phased rollout, starting with essential utility connections and gradually adding more payment types as users became comfortable. This process navigated various regulatory requirements and federal laws related to financial data exchange, ensuring compliance with banking institutions’ protocols. We established a secure infrastructure to connect millions of bank accounts while safeguarding user data. Our strategy focused on building trust through progressive feature disclosure, beginning with core security integrations and real-time utility data verification while adhering to privacy standards. This approach resulted in high completion rates and positive user experiences, bridging the gap between utility payments and credit recognition.

Centering my design philosophy on designing the impact, not the product, I approached this challenge by starting with real people’s stories.

Scroll to next section

Reflections & Impact

Short Term Impact

Within the first year, users saw an increase in the average 13-point credit score. More telling than the numbers were stories: people qualifying for their first apartments, securing better car loans, and feeling recognized for their financial responsibility. Our 92% trust rating showed that we built something people believed. Seeing users’ joy when their regular bills finally counted reminded me why we design: to make complex systems work better for everyday people. Experian Boost did not create new financial behaviors; it just gave credit where credit was due.

Long Term Impact

The project’s true impact extends far beyond individual credit scores. Partnerships with 30+ financial institutions and integration with UltraFICO™ have transformed Boost from a tool into a movement, shifting how the industry conceptualizes creditworthiness. This paradigm shift benefits an estimated 7 million consumers in the critical 500-600 FICO range—typically just below lender minimums—while providing a pathway for the 15 million Americans with no credit score at all due to lack of traditional credit history.