We partner with high-growth fintechs to turn user engagement challenges into scalable retention strategies. When Deuna, a company redefining everyday financial experiences, set out to increase user retention and drive more frequent in-app payments, they knew they needed more than just short-term incentives. Together, we co-designed a Braze loyalty program for fintech—a gamified, tier-based system powered by automation, real-time data, and personalized communication.

As Deuna’s strategic growth partner and Braze specialist, we led the transformation of their engagement stack—architecting an automated, omnichannel journey that now drives measurable behavior change at scale. Collaborating closely with their Product Owner, CX, and data teams, we helped build a program that not only boosts payments and retention, but lays the foundation for long-term loyalty through intelligent, habit-forming user experiences.

The Challenge: Retaining Users Through Payment Frequency

Our goal was clear: to increase monthly user retention by encouraging top-ups and more frequent payments through the app.

We knew that frequent payments were a strong predictor of active retention, and we wanted to reinforce that behavior sustainably. Promotions alone wouldn’t suffice—we needed a structured system that motivated users to pay more often, with a clear sense of progression and reward.

Designing a Gamified Loyalty Program with Braze

We created a tiered loyalty program that adjusts monthly based on the number of payments made:

• Bronze: 1 to 4 payments/month

• Silver: 5 to 11 payments/month

• Gold: 12 to 19 payments/month

• Diamond: 20 or more payments/month

The higher the tier, the greater the benefits. This structure allowed us to define clear goals, communicate progress, and gamify user behavior without losing clarity.

Each month, users can move up, maintain, or drop down a tier—keeping engagement high and payment behavior consistent. Additionally, every five transactions unlock a spin on a reward wheel, created via in-app messages as an extra gamification tactic.

Overcoming Implementation Challenges

Implementing this Braze loyalty program for fintech came with several challenges:

• Educating users on what the program is, how it works, and why it matters

• Personalizing monthly behavior tracking to trigger accurate and timely messages

• Avoiding message fatigue while keeping communication relevant and contextual

• Scaling the program without manual intervention while ensuring data accuracy

The Braze Solution: Educational, Personalized, and Automated

We designed an engagement architecture based on two major Braze Canvas flows—one for the initial launch and another for ongoing monthly operations.

1. Launch Canvas

In the first month, we focused on education and onboarding. This Canvas used advanced logic including:

• Educational messages explaining the program, current user tier, and associated benefits

• Audience paths ensuring message delivery (fallbacks to WhatsApp, push, or in-app messages if email wasn’t opened)

• Dynamic segmentation by tier for personalized visuals and rewards

• Behavior-based triggers powered by a custom attribute (payments count) updated daily via API

Motivational messages included:

• “Don’t stay in Bronze! 🥉 Reach your payment goal to unlock Silver level—you’re almost there!”

• “You’re a true Diamond! 💎 Keep the momentum going to stay at the top of the Deuna Club.”

2. Monthly Automated Canvas

Starting in the second month, an automated Canvas triggered at the beginning of each month to:

• Announce new tiers and rewards

• Send incentive messages mid-month based on proximity to the next tier

• Enable the reward wheel after every five payments

• Scale rewards based on the user’s tier

Omnichannel Engagement Strategy

We leveraged a fully omnichannel strategy using all available Braze channels except SMS:

• Email: Detailed explanations and onboarding sequences

• Push Notifications: Timely nudges to complete payments

• In-App Messages: Real-time contextual engagement

• Content Cards: Persistent status updates without disrupting UX

• WhatsApp: For urgent promotional or reminder messages

We also used Braze Intelligent Channel and Intelligent Timing to ensure relevance without overwhelming users.

Personalization and Automation at Scale

The foundation of the program was data-driven personalization and full automation:

• Each user’s payment count was updated daily via API, ensuring the Canvas reacted in real time.

• Using Liquid logic, messages dynamically adapted to display each user’s current tier, pending rewards, and next milestone.

• The engagement and CX teams collaborated closely to build seamless integrations and maintain accuracy.

Retention and Payment Growth

The loyalty program delivered measurable impact:

• +12% in monthly payments per user (MoM)

• 112K users in Gold or Diamond tiers (up from 90K pre-launch)

• +10% monthly retention among users impacted by the Canvas

• Average payments per user increased from 8 to 10 per month

These results confirmed that users not only understood the program — but were genuinely motivated to change their payment behavior.

Collaboration and Agility: The Secret to Success

This initiative succeeded thanks to a collaborative partnership between Deuna’s internal teams and Minders.

Weekly sessions with Minders ensured strategic alignment, Canvas optimization, and creative design reviews. Internally, engagement, CX, and data teams worked in synergy, enabling rapid iteration and a shared sense of ownership.

Designing Loyalty, Not Just Campaigns

This project represents more than a loyalty initiative—it’s proof of what’s possible when strategy, technology, and culture align around a common goal.

In less than three months, Deuna went from concept to a fully automated, scalable solution with tangible impact on retention and revenue.

We were not running campaigns – we were designing meaningful user experiences. The Braze loyalty program for fintech demonstrated how data, personalization, and gamification can come together to build long-term customer relationships.

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