Avant's Credit Builder Targets Middle-Income Financial Health

CHICAGO, IL – January 28, 2026 – Financial technology company Avant has launched Credit Builder, a new, free financial health tool aimed at empowering its millions of middle-income American customers to take control of their credit. The feature, integrated directly into Avant's mobile app, is the result of a strategic partnership with financial wellness solutions provider SavvyMoney and signals a deeper push by the lender into comprehensive financial management for its core demographic.

The new tool provides users with a suite of services including personalized credit insights, real-time monitoring, and daily access to their credit score and report. The launch comes at a time when many American households are grappling with persistent cost-of-living pressures and high levels of debt, creating a significant demand for accessible tools that can help navigate financial uncertainty.

A Proactive Toolkit for Financial Wellness

At the heart of Avant's new offering is a focus on proactive credit management rather than passive monitoring. The Credit Builder tool is designed to give users actionable intelligence to make informed decisions. A key component is its credit score simulator, an interactive feature that allows customers to model how specific financial choices—such as paying down a credit card balance, taking on a new loan, or closing an account—could potentially impact their credit score. This provides immediate visibility into the consequences of financial actions, helping users strategize their path to better credit.

Beyond the simulator, the tool offers month-to-month goal setting to help users create and stick to a credit improvement plan. It also provides real-time alerts for changes to their credit report and includes dedicated support services in the event of identity theft, a feature enhanced by SavvyMoney's recent integration with Allstate Identity Protection.

Early results from a pilot program that began in April 2025 suggest strong user engagement and positive outcomes. According to Avant, the tool was adopted by 357,000 users by December, with an impressive 87% of them using the feature on a monthly basis. The company also reported that 75% of these early adopters have seen their credit scores either improve or remain steady since enrolling. Furthermore, customers using Credit Builder demonstrated better overall credit performance compared to Avant customers not enrolled in the tool.

Addressing the Strain on Middle-Income America

The launch of Credit Builder is strategically timed to address the acute financial challenges facing its target market. Recent studies paint a picture of a middle-income demographic under significant strain. While inflation may be slowing, many households remain cautious, with 59% anticipating a worsening U.S. economy in the coming year. This economic anxiety is reflected in their personal finances, as nearly half (47%) of middle-income families are prioritizing paying down debt, particularly high-interest credit card balances.

This financial pressure is compounded by a perceived gap in financial education. A striking 66% of middle-income Americans feel their schooling did not adequately prepare them for managing personal finances, with specific weaknesses cited in understanding taxes, loans, and basic budgeting. This lack of foundational knowledge is often linked to higher debt levels and a greater reliance on costly borrowing methods.

Avant's tool aims to directly address this need by providing not just data, but also the context and guidance necessary to act on it. “Middle-income Americans are looking for a roadmap to financial stability, and we’re committed to providing the tools they need to move their financial lives forward,” said Charles Whittaker, Chief Business Officer of Avant, in the company's announcement.

The Strategic Play Behind a 'Free' Tool

For Avant, offering a sophisticated tool like Credit Builder at no cost to its customers is a calculated strategic move that extends far beyond simple altruism. The company's core business model is built on providing personal loans and credit cards to the near-prime market—a segment that often struggles to secure credit from traditional banks. Since its founding, Avant has connected over 4.3 million customers to more than $12.5 billion in loans and 2.8 million credit cards.

By helping these same customers improve their financial health, Avant is investing in the quality of its own loan portfolio. Healthier borrowers are less likely to default, which directly mitigates risk and improves the company's bottom line. The tool also serves as a powerful customer retention and engagement engine. By providing continuous value within its app, Avant keeps customers within its ecosystem, fostering loyalty and increasing their potential lifetime value.

Furthermore, a customer who successfully uses Credit Builder to improve their credit score may become eligible for larger loans, additional credit lines, or better interest rates on future Avant products. This creates a natural pathway for upselling and cross-selling, turning a free wellness tool into a long-term revenue driver. This strategy reflects a growing trend in fintech, where companies move from providing single-point credit solutions to building holistic financial platforms.

A Crowded Market and a Key Partnership

Avant enters a competitive space dominated by established players like Credit Karma, which offers free credit scores and reports to the general public, and major credit bureaus like Experian, which provides its own score-boosting features. However, Avant's strategy differs by focusing inward on its existing customer base. Rather than competing for the general public's attention, it is leveraging its established relationships to offer a deeply integrated experience.

This integration is made possible through its partnership with SavvyMoney, an industry leader that provides the underlying technology for Credit Builder. SavvyMoney specializes in white-label financial wellness solutions for over 1,600 financial institutions, allowing partners like Avant to deploy sophisticated tools without building them from scratch.

“Credit Builder is built on the foundational belief that financial progress begins by putting data in the hands of the consumer, empowering them to navigate their financial journey with transparency,” stated JB Orecchia, President and CEO of SavvyMoney. This partnership allows Avant to focus on its core lending business while benefiting from SavvyMoney's specialized expertise in data aggregation, personalization, and user engagement.

As fintech companies increasingly compete on user experience and value-added services, such strategic alliances are becoming crucial for maintaining a competitive edge. This collaboration allows both companies to play to their strengths, with Avant providing the customer base and lending products, and SavvyMoney delivering the technology that enhances the customer relationship. The arrangement underscores a model where specialized tech providers enable larger consumer-facing platforms to rapidly expand their offerings and deepen their market penetration.

This deep integration into the customer's financial life, however, comes with significant responsibilities, particularly concerning data privacy and regulatory compliance. The fintech industry operates under the close scrutiny of bodies like the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which enforce regulations such as the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA). These laws govern how consumer credit information is collected, used, and protected.

Given that Avant faced an FTC settlement in 2019 related to its loan servicing practices, the company is under pressure to ensure its data handling and consumer disclosures for Credit Builder are transparent and fully compliant. The partnership with SavvyMoney introduces another layer of complexity, requiring robust data processing agreements and continuous monitoring to safeguard sensitive user information against potential breaches. Ensuring ironclad security and maintaining consumer trust will be paramount as Avant integrates this powerful new tool into the financial lives of its customers.