Loyalty API for FinTech: An Engagement Case Study

When you think 65% of a company’s revenue comes from the repeat business of existing customers, it’s no surprise that loyalty has become a powerful lever for fintech companies aiming to boost user engagement and retention. 

Building customer loyalty is a primary objective for fintech companies, as it drives long-term growth and competitive advantage.

One U.S.-based fintech firm, serving over 18 million users, set out to do exactly that: reward users for making smart financial choices, without sinking months of development into building a custom rewards system.

By focusing on their enterprise clients, the firm recognized the importance of delivering value and seamless integration of personalized loyalty features to enhance client satisfaction and engagement.

Here’s how they used a loyalty API built for fintech to launch a scalable, behaviour-driven rewards program in just three months, and what happened next.

The Challenge

The fintech company wanted to motivate users to take meaningful financial actions - referred to as desired behaviors - such as paying off credit cards on time, signing up (and being approved) for new financial products, and completing financial literacy modules or onboarding tasks. 

The program was specifically designed to encourage these desired behaviors. While the goals were clear, building a program to support them wasn’t simple. 

The team faced three critical challenges:

1. Technical Complexity

Building a loyalty program from scratch would have required significant internal engineering time. They needed to track user behaviours across various touchpoints, apps, websites, and third-party integrations, and issue rewards dynamically. Their team didn’t have the bandwidth for a long development cycle.

2. Scalability

The solution needed to handle millions of events and thousands of concurrent users, with flexible reward logic and modular expansion options (e.g. cash vs. non-cash redemption).

3. Time to Market

With competing fintech apps rolling out engagement features, time was a factor. They needed to launch fast, without compromising on user experience.

The Solution: A Loyalty API Built for FinTech

To move quickly and stay flexible, the company partnered with White Label Loyalty. The API-first approach allows developers to quickly integrate and customize loyalty features to fit their needs. Instead of building from scratch, they plugged into our modular, API-first customer loyalty platform, purpose-built to support behaviour-based rewards in financial services.

Seamless API integration

We integrated our Loyalty API directly into the company’s financial product comparison tools in just 48 hours. From the moment it went live, the reward system began tracking real user activity, like credit card applications, approvals, on-time payments, and content completions, and automating the process of issuing points.

Each behaviour triggered points automatically, allowing users to accumulate points for their actions, based on a rule engine tailored to the company’s engagement goals. The entire system was designed to scale effortlessly, without demanding heavy internal development.

Branded rewards experience for customer loyalty

To give users a frictionless way to interact with the program, we also created a custom rewards microsite, fully branded and integrated via single sign-on (SSO), making it feel like a natural extension of the fintech platform. The design ensures users feel recognized and motivated by their progress in the program.

Users could easily view their points balance, explore a rewards catalogue, and redeem points with just a few clicks.

At launch, rewards included digital gift cards, but the roadmap already included ACH cash redemptions and tiered loyalty levels for power users.

The Results

From integration to go-live, the entire program came together in just three months. And the results speak for themselves:

• 4,000+ users joined the program
• 75% engagement rate
• 1.8 million+ tracked actions
• API integration completed in just two days

This rapid implementation delivered significant benefits to both the company and its users, streamlining operations while enhancing user experience.

By using a ready-to-deploy loyalty API for the fintech industry, the company avoided months of internal dev work and launched a highly effective engagement tool, fast.

The program not only increased participation but also helped create loyal customers who are more likely to stay engaged over time. Rewards programs like this can drive engagement and retention in fintech by incentivizing ongoing customer interaction.

Why it worked

This wasn’t about slapping a rewards program onto a website. It worked because it was:

1. Fast to launch: the program was live in under three months thanks to our plug-and-play loyalty infrastructure. No need for a full internal build.
2. Built around real behaviours: instead of offering points for clicks or purchases, the program rewarded meaningful actions, like building credit or managing debt responsibly. Loyalty mechanics were central to the program's success, creating a dynamic and rewarding experience that encouraged user retention and engagement.
3. Light on internal resources: With White Label Loyalty managing the back end, the internal teams could stay focused on product growth.
4. Designed to scale: the program is future-proof, with room to expand into cash rewards, tiered incentives, and personalised engagement powered by data. Many businesses are adopting similar approaches, and there is potential for adding new features such as achievements, badges, and levels to keep users engaged.

How Fintechs Can Build Smarter Loyalty Programs

According to a recent report, 88% of banking executives believe that expanding reward ecosystems is the most effective way to boost customer engagement and delight customers.

For fintech companies looking to grow and deepen their connection with users, building a robust customer loyalty program is essential for long-term success.

Creating a loyalty program that rewards meaningful financial actions, such as purchases, helps users accumulate points and increases retention. However, building such a program in-house can be complex and time-consuming, requiring companies to invest in the right technology and resources.

That’s where White Label Loyalty steps in. Our platform empowers fintechs to quickly launch flexible, behaviour-driven loyalty programs without the headache of starting from scratch.

Here’s how it works:

API-first approach, plug-and-play

You can integrate our Loyalty API directly into your app, platform, or existing tools. Developers can leverage the API to quickly implement specific features tailored to their business needs, enabling seamless customization and integration. Whether you want to reward sign-ups, loan repayments, content completions, or credit usage, it’s all possible, and fully customisable.

Reward the behaviours that matter

With our event-based system, you’re in control of what triggers rewards and can design the program to encourage desired behaviors. Want to incentivise financial education, encourage saving goals, or nudge users to complete onboarding? You set the rules, we power the rewards—users accumulate points for completing these behaviors.

Flexible rewards to engage customers

Offer what your users actually want: digital gift cards, cashback through ACH, or even branded experiences. You decide how users earn and redeem, providing the benefit of increased user value and satisfaction. We take care of the heavy lifting behind the scenes.

Data and insights for customer retention

Every user action is trackable. That means you can segment audiences, measure engagement, and continuously improve your program based on real behavioural data.

Overcoming Common Challenges

Building loyalty in fintech comes with some unique hurdles. Users want personalised experiences, but they also expect bulletproof security. They want transparency, speed, and rewards that feel truly relevant.

Our platform was designed with these challenges in mind. With GDPR-compliant data handling, single sign-on integration, and scalable cloud infrastructure, we help you meet high user expectations, without stretching your dev team thin.

And while some companies spend months trying to stitch together rewards logic, data syncing, and frontend experiences, we give you the tools to go live in weeks, not quarters.

Measuring Loyalty Program Success

To ensure a loyalty program delivers real value, fintech companies must regularly measure its success using clear, actionable metrics.

Key performance indicators such as customer retention, customer satisfaction, and redemption rates provide insight into how well the program is meeting customer needs and driving engagement.

Analyzing customer data from loyalty programs allows businesses to identify trends, spot areas for improvement, and optimize their strategies for better results. Leveraging artificial intelligence and machine learning can further enhance these insights, enabling more personalized and effective loyalty campaigns.

Continuous innovation is essential for maintaining customer trust and loyalty, especially in a rapidly evolving industry like fintech. Investing in data security is equally important, as customers expect their information to be protected at every step.

By focusing on these areas, fintech companies can create loyalty programs that not only attract and retain customers but also adapt to changing needs and deliver long-term value.

Implementing Gamification Features

Gamification features are a powerful way to enhance user engagement and make loyalty programs more interactive and rewarding.

With gamification features like points, badges, tiers, challenges, and progress bars, you can motivate users to keep coming back. Whether they’re hitting savings milestones or completing a financial literacy challenge, users feel recognised, and that builds long-term loyalty.

By designing loyalty programs with gamification mechanics, fintech companies can boost engagement, drive customer loyalty, and create rewarding experiences that set their brand apart.

Whether it’s earning points for everyday transactions or competing in challenges, gamification helps transform routine financial activities into moments of excitement and value for the user.

Built for Fintech: Secure, Scalable, and User-Friendly

Fintech is a high-trust space: users expect seamless experiences, and your team needs tools that are secure and scalable. White Label Loyalty was built with that in mind.

Whether you’re a savings app, a credit platform, or anything in between, we help you:

• Encourage users to make smarter money decisions
• Launch quickly, without a heavy internal build
• Stay compliant with financial data standards
• Scale effortlessly as your user base grows

The end result? A loyalty program that becomes a key part of how you engage users, support financial wellbeing, and grow your business.

If you’re exploring how to build or optimise a loyalty program in the fintech space, we’ve put together a comprehensive guide just for you: The Complete Guide to Customer Loyalty in the FinTech Industry.

It covers everything from why traditional loyalty models fall short in financial services to how behavioural rewards and personalisation can boost retention and lifetime value.