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How Unit enabled Bridge to onboard tens of thousands of new members in just a few months
Bridge saw a unique opportunity to build a financial platform that helps its members earn money. To scale quickly, they needed a reliable banking-as-a-service (BaaS) partner.
With Unit, Bridge was able to onboard tens of thousands of new members within a few months of launching.
Bridge is a financial platform that delivers an innovative digital banking and earning experience for its members, who tend to be underserved and overlooked by traditional financial services providers.
Consumer financial services in America are in the early stages of a shift to digital-first offerings. However, according to Bridge, the innovation has centered almost exclusively on credit products.
“With all the focus on personal credit and liability management, where is the innovation on the asset side of the ledger?” asks Bridge CEO Lalit Janak.
“Our goal is to improve economic mobility through technology,” says Janak. “There’s been a lot of innovation in credit products in the last decade, but very little has been done to help consumers actually earn more money. We’re here to fix that.”
What Bridge built with Unit
Bridge partnered with Unit to build digital wallets, debit cards, and unique in-app ways for members to earn money. The product has seen tremendous growth in just a few months.
Since going live in June 2021, Bridge has grown new accounts 80% monthly. So far, they’ve saved their members more than $3 million in bank fees, and members have earned over 5 million Bridge coins (Bridge’s virtual currency).
"We needed a partner with whom we could scale quickly, and Unit has been that for us,” says Janak. “With Unit, we’ve been able to onboard tens of thousands of new members in just a few months.”
Bridge Coins is the program through which Bridge members can earn extra money; it’s been particularly effective in driving new member signups.
Many Bridge members earn more than $100 per month by engaging in a rich marketplace of in-app actions, primarily funded by third party partners. Examples include research surveys, daily logins, referrals, and card purchases.
Building an earning program from scratch has the potential to keep a team of engineers busy for years; but with Unit, Bridge was able to launch theirs in a matter of months. They administer Bridge Coins through an operational account managed by Unit, which also powers the ledgering and payments. For members, the experience is seamless: earned money on demand, paid instantly into their digital wallets.
“In Unit, we’ve found a partner with a robust roadmap, a reliable API, and a responsive team,” says Janak. “Our conversations have been strategic in nature and oriented towards our long-term goals.”
Prior to Unit, Bridge had been working with another provider; but when it came time to scale up, they knew they needed a new solution.
“Unit’s swift execution on their ambitious roadmap helps us move even more quickly to market,” says Janak. “A good example is the Plaid Exchange integration: it’s been hugely beneficial for our members.”
Plaid Exchange is a no-code integration built directly into the Unit API that allows Bridge to show up as a financial institution on Plaid’s open-finance platform. As a result, members can easily connect their Bridge accounts to over 5,000 apps and services such as Venmo, Cash App, and Coinbase.
Looking ahead, Bridge plans to continue its explosive growth, with a goal of signing up 500,000 members in the coming year. Thanks to the operational leverage that Unit enables, they plan to administer those accounts with a full-time team of just a few dozen.
"We talked to a lot of companies in this space. We know your competitors better than most people. It’s clear to us that Unit is best-in-class."
Ready to bring your own financial features to life? Contact us to learn more.
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Bridge is not a bank. Banking services are provided by Bridge's and Unit’s bank partner, Blue Ridge Bank N.A.; Member FDIC. The Bridge Visa® Debit Card is issued by Blue Ridge Bank N.A. pursuant to a license from Visa U.S.A. Inc. and may be used everywhere Visa debit cards are accepted.
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