Transaction Enrichment in Practice: Four Bank and Fintech Case Studies
Discover how four financial institutions are transforming customer engagement through innovative transaction enrichment solutions.
- Published
The financial landscape demands immediate digital adaptation. The cost of inaction is steep: 64% of banks lose customers due to slow digital transformation. Poor customer experience alone costs the financial industry over $10 billion annually.
For too long, banks have focused on selling financial products rather than solving fundamental user problems. However, leading financial institutions and fintechs are gaining a competitive edge with a powerful strategy: using enriched transactional data to better understand customers, deliver smarter solutions, and increase user engagement.
The Problem With Raw Transaction Data
Opening a banking app, users typically see cryptic entries like "SQ *JONES CAFE N7" or "POS TESCO 89234B." This messy data creates three critical problems:
- Friction and Distrust: Customers struggle to recall where they spent their money, leading to confusion and doubt about their accounts.
- Operational Strain: This confusion generates high volumes of calls and chats to contact centers, driving up operational costs and diverting resources from strategic initiatives.
- Increased Churn: When users can't instantly trust their transaction feed, they become disengaged and more likely to switch providers.
This lack of transparency highlights a fundamental industry shift. Major financial institutions now recognise that transaction enrichment isn't just "nice to have", it's a business imperative that spans user experience, operations, regulatory compliance, and brand trust.
What stands out to us is the persistent gap between what users expect and what most apps deliver. There is a lot of talk around innovation, but often it fails in execution. Small friction points, vague alerts, irrelevant recommendations, all of these add up. And users notice.
Transaction Enrichment: A Key Competitive Advantage
Transaction enrichment transforms raw data into clear, standardised information by adding the full merchant name, logo, spending category (such as "Restaurants" or "Transportation"), and geographical location.
This process converts a simple list of transactions into an intuitive, transparent record of spending that drives daily app usage. For banks, transaction enrichment forms the foundation for building stronger, more reliable customer relationships.
How Leading Banks Drive Results With Transaction Enrichment
Several leading banks and fintechs are already realising substantial gains by prioritising data quality.
Kroo: Reducing Queries And Increasing Usage
Kroo's mission centered on creating a more positive, two-way relationship between customers and providers. However, insufficient data quality was generating high customer support queries. Their goal went beyond fixing the problem - they wanted to empower customers and put them in control of their finances by making banking simpler and more enjoyable.
The Solution
Integrating Snowdrop's enrichment API, Kroo provided customers with advanced accuracy, transparency, and comprehensive transaction details. This enriched data equipped users with deeper financial insights, enabling them to identify spending patterns and manage budgets more effectively.
The Result
A 15% rise in user engagement and a significant drop in customer support queries, saving both time and costs.
Banco BPM: Accelerating Digital Innovation
Banco BPM was committed to delivering the best possible digital banking experience with increasingly innovative solutions. The project was part of their broader strategy to achieve market differentiation through an intuitive digital experience, requiring clearer transaction summaries in their mobile app.
The Solution
Banco BPM utilised Snowdrop's enrichment API, leveraging its developer-friendly design principles. Thanks to high scalability and rapid implementation architecture, the bank successfully deployed the solution in under two months.
As a Result
This integration, powered by advanced AI, allows users to view detailed information, providing greater clarity and control.
See how our technology powers Banco BPM's app
iCard: Driving Core App Usage
iCard aimed to elevate transparency and control by enhancing the accuracy and contextualisation of transaction data. Insufficient clarity and contextual information at both point-of-sale and online channels was hindering the user experience.
The Solution
iCard partnered with Snowdrop Solutions to implement their advanced transaction enrichment solution. By adding merchant logos, commercial names, accurate locations, purchase categories, and additional details such as addresses, working hours, and websites, the API transformed iCard's app interface.
The Result
The enhanced "Recent Activity" list led to a 21% increase in user clicks on detailed transaction information within the first year.
Explore the real-world results
Chocolate Finance: A Revamp Focused On Clarity
Chocolate Finance recognised that raw transaction data created a significant clarity gap. Their goal is to reimagine money in a way that feels effortless, modern, and intuitive, demanding a best-in-class solution.
The Solution
As part of this key upgrade, they implemented Snowdrop's API to enhance basic transaction data with merchant names, logos, and customised categories, helping users filter through transactions more easily.
As a Result
This added context provided better financial insight and built trust in the user experience.
Read more about the integration
What Banks Reported After Adding Transaction Enrichment
Evaluating the impact of data enrichment on customer engagement and retention helps banks understand the value of clearer transaction information. Published results from Snowdrop customers show how transaction enrichment can support engagement, encourage interaction with transaction details and accelerate digital banking projects.
- Kroo: Reported a 15% increase in user engagement after integrating Snowdrop’s transaction enrichment API.
- iCard: Recorded a 21% increase in clicks on detailed transaction information during the first year after enhancing its Recent Activity interface.
- Banco BPM: Deployed Snowdrop’s transaction enrichment solution in under two months, adding clearer transaction details to its mobile banking app.
These results highlight different ways enriched transaction data can improve the banking experience. While engagement and interaction metrics provide useful indicators, the impact on customer retention should be assessed using retention-specific data over time.
Data Quality As The Foundation For User Engagement
For modern banking, transaction data enrichment has evolved from a niche feature to the foundation of app customer experience. By providing transparency, clarity, and control, banks simultaneously reduce operational costs through fewer contact center queries and significantly boost user engagement.
Higher engagement translates directly into stronger customer retention and new opportunities to offer valuable services like personalised spending insights or targeted cashback offers.
The lesson is unmistakable: solving transactional clarity is the gateway to higher engagement, better retention, and a profitable, enduring relationship with the modern customer.
Transaction Enrichment FAQs
What results have banks reported after adding transaction enrichment?
Banks and fintechs have reported measurable results after implementing transaction enrichment. Kroo recorded a 15% increase in user engagement, while iCard saw a 21% increase in clicks on transaction details during the first year. Banco BPM deployed Snowdrop’s transaction enrichment solution in under two months, demonstrating the potential for rapid implementation.
How is transaction enrichment used in lending?
In lending, transaction enrichment helps turn raw transaction data into clearer information about merchants, spending categories and financial activity. This context can support the assessment of income and expenditure patterns, helping lenders better understand applicants’ financial circumstances.
How do banks use transaction enrichment to personalise customer experiences?
Banks can use enriched transaction data to provide more relevant insights, notifications and offers based on customers’ spending activity. Clear merchant information and categorised transactions also help customers understand their finances more easily. Combined with behavioural insights, this data can support more relevant banking experiences and stronger customer retention.
Can transaction enrichment reduce chargebacks?
Transaction enrichment can help prevent some payment disputes by making transactions easier to recognise. Merchant names, logos, locations and other business details provide context that can help customers identify legitimate purchases they might otherwise question. This may reduce disputes caused by unfamiliar transaction descriptions, although enrichment cannot prevent all chargebacks or cases of payment fraud.
