Fintech · SaaS Product · Self-Founded · 2025
Financiv
Financiv didn't start as a product, it started as a research question. During my BSc at University of Hertfordshire, I wrote a paper on swaying younger generations into better financial literacy through personal finance apps. The research showed a clear gap: existing tools were either too complex for beginners or too basic to be genuinely useful, and almost all of them monetised through advertising or selling user data. So I built the product myself. From a research paper to a registered company — Financiv Ltd., incorporated in 2025. I designed, engineered, and launched an entire fintech platform alone. The business model, the brand, the product design, the database architecture, the security layer, the subscription system, the content strategy, the legal compliance, every decision, every line of code, every pixel.
Privacy-First Architecture
In fintech, trust isn't a feature, it's the foundation. I built Financiv with PII encryption as a core principle: user names and emails are stored encrypted in the database, with hashed lookups for authentication. Even I can't read a user's personal information in plain text. Two-factor authentication via email OTP is built in, not bolted on. The security section of the landing page isn't marketing, it's a technical commitment. No ads, no data selling, revenue comes exclusively from subscriptions. That's not a privacy policy, it's the entire business model.
A Product That Meets You Where You Are
The research showed that financial literacy exists on a spectrum, a 19-year-old opening their first savings account and a 35-year-old managing multiple investment portfolios have fundamentally different needs. I designed a Lite and Advanced mode that runs through the entire product, from the learning hub blog posts to the budget dashboards. Users can switch between simplified and detailed views without losing any data or functionality. The savings planner lets users compare multiple scenarios side by side; different interest rates, contribution frequencies, inflation adjustments, tax implications; turning abstract financial decisions into visual, comparable outcomes.
Bank Connectivity & Financial Infrastructure
Financiv integrates with Plaid for bank account syncing; connecting users' real accounts to the platform so balances and transactions flow in automatically. Users can also manage accounts manually, import transactions via CSV, create custom categories, set monthly budgets per category, and track their net worth and cash flow over time through charts visualisations. This isn't a dashboard template, it's a working financial operating system.
Brand, Content & Growth
Beyond the product, I built every layer of the business. The brand identity: colour palette, typography, tone of voice; was designed to feel warm and accessible in a category that defaults to cold corporate blue. The landing page is a full conversion funnel: animated hero, interactive feature demos with live GIF previews, device mockups, security messaging, pricing comparison, product roadmap, and FAQ; all engineered to move a visitor from curiosity to sign-up. I set up a public roadmap that shows users where the product is headed. The content strategy includes a full learning hub with articles on budgeting, investing, debt management, and financial planning; turning the product into both a tool and an education platform.
Outcome
Financiv is one of the most technically complex project in my portfolio and the one I'm most proud of. It started as an academic research question and became a registered company with a live product, real users, and a clear roadmap through v2.0. The platform handles authentication with encrypted PII, two-factor verification, role-based access, open banking integration, transaction management, budget tracking, cash flow visualisation, savings planning, subscription billing, a CMS-powered blog, and a full analytics pipeline built and shipped by one person. It's proof that a single engineer with the right vision can build at the level of a funded startup. Not a prototype. Not an MVP. A real product, in production, handling real people's financial data with the security and care that demands.
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