Fintech Case Study
Fintech App Reduces Churn by 42% in 6 Weeks
Industry: Fintech | Goal: Reduce churn & increase repeat transactions | Service: Retention Sprint™
“We didn’t have a churn problem — we had an attention problem.”
1. The Problem
A fast-growing fintech app offering micro-investment tools was scaling acquisition fast but struggling to retain users. 70% of users completed onboarding but never made a second transaction. CAC was rising 23% month-over-month. Product satisfaction was high, yet habit formation was low.
2. The Diagnosis
CraftedLoop ran a Retention Audit to uncover emotional and behavioral leaks:
| Issue | Root Cause | Signal |
|---|---|---|
| Drop after first investment | No post-success reinforcement | Sharp engagement drop at Day 3 |
| Low portfolio revisit rate | Lack of emotional feedback | 85% ignored insights tab |
| High dormancy in week 2 | Weak reactivation triggers | Push CTR below 3% |
It became clear that users didn’t feel progress — so they lost motivation.
3. The Strategy
Our objective was simple: Make users feel ownership and progress within the first 72 hours. We rebuilt the retention system using CraftedLoop’s 3-Loop Framework:
- Onboarding Loop: Create emotional certainty.
- Engagement Loop: Reinforce progress and growth.
- Reactivation Loop: Anticipate disengagement before it happens.
4. Execution
a. Emotional Onboarding
Reframed messaging from “Invest with us” → “Grow your account.” This subtle ownership shift increased day-1 retention by 11%.
b. Progress Visualization
Introduced a “Growth Dashboard” that visually showed micro-gains (₹ earned, streaks, portfolio health). Every login triggered a dopamine feedback hit.
c. Predictable Surprise
Added “Insight Fridays” — personalized weekly summaries with investment tips. CTR jumped from 3% → 12%.
d. Lifecycle Automation
Crafted automated nudges based on in-app behavior, not calendar time: “Missed your streak?” was triggered 48h after inactivity, and a “Portfolio story update” was triggered after a milestone completion.
5. The Results
| Metric | Before | After | Lift |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30-day retention | 28% | 48% | +71% |
| Repeat transactions | 1.3× | 1.8× | +38% |
| Churn rate | — | ↓42% | — |
| CAC payback | 105 days | 74 days | –29% |
6. Key Learning
Retention isn’t fixed by communication frequency — it’s fixed by emotional feedback. When users feel progress, they return naturally. This case proved that financial products don’t need discounts to drive loyalty — they need reinforcement.
“We stopped chasing installs — and started building loyalty.”