Personal Finance Management in Lending: Daysave-Bellaloan Case Study

Executive Summary

Daysave’s partnership with Bellaloan brand showcases how personal finance management (PFM) can deliver a strong competitive advantage in digital consumer lending.. The collaboration achieved a 14.29% gross visitor-to-applicant conversion rate, outperforming industry benchmarks of 5-8%, and a 24% visitor-to-PFM-user conversion rate, highlighting the powerful role of PFM in driving lending growth.

The Challenge: Beyond Traditional “Apply Now” Buttons in Lending

The consumer credit market faces a fundamental challenge: traditional “apply now” call-to-actions often create friction for users who are still in the early research or planning stages of their financial journey. More than 74% of credit and  loan-related keyword traffic comes from users exploring their options rather than those ready to apply immediately. As a result, lenders and affiliates are missing significant conversion opportunities by failing to engage this research-oriented audienc

Volantes Oy, the Finnish company behind the Bellaloan brand, recognized this gap in their customer acquisition strategy. They wanted to capture the portion of web traffic that wasn’t converting with loan-only value propositions.

The Solution: PFM-First Customer Engagement

Leveraging its leadership in PSD2 based PFM technology, Daysave developed and implemented an engagement-driven acquisition strategy for Bellaloan. In addition to directing paid traffic toward loan applications, users were given the option to check their credit score using the same information required for the loan application. When users chose this path, the information was collected through an interactive and engaging experience that helped them understand their finances, see how different factors influence their creditworthiness, and learn how to improve it using PFM tools.

This strategy addressed several key market dynamics:

• Customer Intent Mismatch: Most consumers searching for “how can I get a loan” and “pikaluotto” (fast loans) are in the information-gathering phase rather than ready to commit to a specific lending product.
• Trust Barrier Reduction: By offering value-first through credit scoring and personalized financial insights, the partnership reduced the psychological barrier associated with sharing personal financial information, achieving a  75% application completion rate.
• Extended Engagement Window: 24% of applicants continued to use PFM tools for more than 30 days after submitting their loan application, strengthening long-term engagement and trust.

Implementation and Results

Conversion Performance Excellence

These results demonstrate the direct business gain of aligning customer acquisition strategy with user intent. The end result significantly exceeded benchmarks on multiple key performance indicators:

• Gross Web Visitor–to–Credit Applicant Conversion: 14.29%, compared to the industry benchmark of 5–8%
  
  
• Credit Score Call-to-Action Engagement: 18.5%, versus the financial services median of 8.3%
  
  
• 30-Day Retention: 24% of users remained active with PFM tools for at least 30 days
  

PFM white-label potential in lending

The collaboration revealed two key phases in the user journey where PFM delivers significant business value in lending:

Phase 1 - Conversion

Visitors acquired through credit-related search engine marketing (SEM) terms were presented with value-first PFM features alongside direct loan application options. This approach achieved a 20% click conversion rate and a 75% loan application completion rate through the Daysave PFM application funnel, resulting in an overall 14% visitor-to-applicant conversion rate.

Phase 2 - Retention

Following the loan application process, 24% of applicants remained active PFM users at the end of the 30-day study period, demonstrating PFM’s ability to extend engagement and strengthen customer relationships beyond the initial credit transaction.

Alternative ways to implement personal finance management (PFM)

While this case study focuses on the results achieved through Daysave’s PFM implementation, there are several alternative approaches to launching PFM solutions, each with distinct trade-offs in cost, time, and control.

1. In-house development: Building in-house with Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) providers such as Tink or Kreditz to further customize, maintain, and do R&D, avoiding the most common challenges of finding a suitable partner.
   
   • Estimated time-to-market: 12-18 months (from planning)
   • Estimated cost: 1.0 - 1.5 million € to in salaries
   • Key requirement: Need to recruit an expert team

2. Acquisitions: Well-capitalized companies can accelerate time-to-market by acquiring existing PFM teams and technologies that are ready to deploy. This option delivers immediate access to expertise and a competitive advantage, but requires significant upfront investment.
   
   • Market-ready product and team
   • Estimated cost: 4 million € or more 

3. Outsourced product: Partnering with a fintech-focused consultancy such as Qvik provides a hybrid approach, allowing companies to build PFM features without recruiting a full internal team. However, this option carries the risk of being outperformed by competitors with dedicated in-house capabilities.
   
   • Estimated time-to-market: ~12 months (from planning)
   • Initial cost: 1.0–1.5 million €
   • Ongoing R&D: 0.8 million € annually for a two-person team

Strategic Implications for Consumer Credit

Redefining Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) Economics

Traditional consumer lending CAC has increased significantly due to competitive paid media landscapes,  with financial services keywords now exceeding $4 per click.

The PFM-first approach addresses this challenge by:

• Expanded Addressable Market: Captures traffic across the entire financial planning spectrum, not just users actively seeking a loan.
• Improved Lifetime Value: Users engaged through PFM tools demonstrate 22% higher lifetime value compared to direct lending acquisitions
• Reduced Acquisition Costs: Higher conversion rates directly translate to lower effective CAC (with Bellaloan, a 37% reduction)

Market Position Differentiation

As consumer credit markets become increasingly commoditized, value-added services provide sustainable competitive advantages. Financial institutions partnering with comprehensive PFM platforms can differentiate through:

• Holistic Financial Relationships: Building deeper customer relationships beyond single-product transactions
• Data-Driven Insights: Leveraging aggregated  financial behavior data to enhance risk assessment, personalize offers, and inform product development
• Customer Retention: Continuous engagement through PFM services naturally increases retention and enables cross-selling opportunities across the financial product portfolio
  

Future Outlook and Platform Evolution

Conclusion: The Future of Financial Services Customer Acquisition

The Daysave x Bellaloan case study from Q2 2025 demonstrates that integrating personal finance management (PFM) into lending creates a more customer-centric financial service model that aligns with the intent and behavior of lending customers.

Industry Impact

Traditional consumer credit models focused solely on transactional interactions are increasingly missing the broader commercial potential of their customer funnels. In the evolving affiliate and lending landscape, the winners will be those organizations that view visitors and customers as individuals with complex and interconnected financial needs, rather than single-purpose loan applicants, and build value propositions that address the full spectrum of their financial lives. This finding is consistent with industry insights from McKinsey, which highlight the growing importance of personalized, value-based engagement in driving sustainable growth in financial services. We recognize the potential of AI in deepening the personalization effects of PFM in lending.

The 14.29% visitor-to-applicant conversion rate achieved through this partnership validates the transformative potential of PFM and personalized financial engagement in consumer lending. As the industry continues to evolve toward customer-centric, technology-enabled services, the integration of comprehensive PFM capabilities with traditional lending products stands out as a proven path to both superior customer value and measurable business performance.

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