Webinar Recap: Keys to a Winning Acquisition Strategy in Banking

The opening consensus: acquisition isn’t just a top-of-funnel tactic—it’s a system that requires alignment across product, data, channel, and culture. When one of those components is off, it can ripple across your entire program.

It’s easy to default to levers like increasing spend or testing a new channel when growth slows. But the panelists urged marketers to step back and evaluate deeper, structural elements of their strategy.

1. Product-Market Fit Isn’t Optional

Far too many teams dive into acquisition without first validating that their product is differentiated, needed, and easy to understand.

• Is your offer solving a specific pain point?
• Does your product fill a clear gap in the market?
• Are you launching something new—or just another version of what’s already out there?

Carlos put it best: “If you’re asking publishers to prioritize you over Capital One or Chase, you’d better have a damn good reason. Your product needs to be compelling, your pitch needs to be tight, and your story has to resonate.”

2. Funnel Optimization Must Be a Priority

If users are clicking but not converting, that’s not a publisher problem—it’s a funnel problem.

Simple UX blockers—like a CTA that doesn’t appear above the fold or a clunky ID verification step—can tank your ROI and erode trust with partners. Ibo shared an example where a conversion issue boiled down to a single button not being visible on mobile. A fix improved results overnight.

“Almost no channel I’ve ever launched worked the first time. What matters is your ability to test, iterate, and improve—quickly.” – Ibo Dusi

3. Know Your Numbers (and Share Them)

Publishers don’t just want CPA targets—they want context. What’s your approval rate? What’s the average balance or deposit funding? What’s your true customer LTV?

Justin emphasized the need for transparency: “When a partner can say, ‘Here’s how direct deposit impacts our funding costs,’ or, ‘We can afford up to X for a certain customer segment,’ that gives us the confidence to get creative and explore new placements.”

The brands that are winning know their unit economics and use them to open the door to smarter, performance-driven relationships.

If you are a financial services company in North America looking to improve acquisition through affiliate marketing in 2025, contact us to see how Fintel Connect can help. 

For financial brands looking to grow through affiliate and partner marketing, understanding how publishers evaluate opportunities is critical.

Here’s what gets their attention:

• Strategic alignment: Are you targeting an audience that fits their readership or user base?
• Competitive positioning: Do you bring something different, better, or faster to the table?
• Track record or early signals of success: Are there PR mentions, Trustpilot reviews, or strong direct response metrics to back you up?
• Optimized experience: Will their readers have a smooth, intuitive, valuable journey if they click through?
• Commitment to partnership: Are you showing up with a one-off campaign or a long-term vision?

CPA vs. CPC vs. Hybrid: A Framework for Risk and Reward

The great compensation debate is alive and well in financial marketing: Should brands pay per click, per lead, or per funded account?

The short answer: it depends on your maturity, data, and funnel performance.

• CPC or CPL models shift risk to the advertiser and are often a better fit for newer programs or less optimized funnels. They lower the barrier to entry with publishers.
• CPA models reward performance but demand confidence in your funnel—and data transparency that many marketers still struggle with.
• Hybrid models (e.g., partial CPL + CPA) offer the best of both worlds when structured thoughtfully.

Here are the most common culprits the panel sees behind failed or stalled acquisition efforts:

1. Misaligned or uncompetitive CPA

If your payout is 60% below market rates, no amount of passion or persuasion will get you placements. It signals lack of commitment—and undercuts your credibility.

2. Friction in the user journey

The first 5 seconds matter. If your onboarding flow is slow, confusing, or requires multiple steps just to verify identity, you’re losing high-quality users before they ever complete.

3. “Start-Stop” Budgeting

Pausing and restarting offers mid-month might save short-term dollars, but it creates chaos for publishers who have to rebalance exposure and traffic flows—often on short notice.

4. Playing defense instead of offense

When fraud risk goes up or customer quality dips, the instinct might be to pile on verification steps or tighten your funnel. But overcorrecting without fixing the root cause just adds more friction—and worsens results.

5. The Case for Always-On Affiliate Programs

Unlike time-bound media buys, affiliate marketing thrives on consistency and scale. Turning your campaigns on and off erodes momentum, reduces trust, and limits long-term data insights.

But more importantly, it cuts off the halo effect—the brand lift and credibility that comes from being featured consistently across high-intent comparison and publisher platforms.

There’s no one-size-fits-all payout structure. But great programs do a few key things well:

• They reward performance at every stage. Tiered CPA? Bonus for direct deposit? Higher payout for funded accounts over $5K? All good.
• They reflect your business model. If you’re in lending, default risk should influence payouts. If you’re in deposits, average balance or share of wallet matters.
• They foster long-term relationships. One-month CPAs attract opportunists. Thoughtful, transparent models build trust.

Too often, acquisition is treated like an isolated performance tactic. But the panel emphasized again and again: winning strategies come from systems thinking.

That means aligning your:

• Product with a real market need
• Channel with your target audience
• Messaging with clear value and differentiation
• Payout model with true LTV and performance goals
• Publisher partnerships with data and trust

It also means being proactive, iterative, and humble enough to recognize that success doesn’t happen overnight—but when it does, it compounds.

Want to know more?

We’ve only scratched the surface here. To dig deeper into the conversation and hear the full insights directly from the panel, grab the recording below.

Watch the full recording