Customer expectations for digital experiences are evolving rapidly, making engagement solutions essential for financial institutions in the retail sector. Deciding on the best path to tackle this—whether to build in-house or adopt a third-party solution—is a complex choice that significantly impacts competitiveness, operational efficiency, and customer loyalty.

If your financial institution is exploring ways to enhance member loyalty and retention while debating whether to build or outsource a platform, you’re not alone. In this post, I’ll break down the build-vs-buy decision, drawing from my interactions with our clients at Flourish Fi and many fintech and banking leaders who have faced this choice, with the aim of guiding you toward the best path for your needs.

Why Some Banks Consider Building

Building an in-house rewards and member engagement solution can be appealing. After all, who knows your clients and brand better than you? A custom-built platform allows to retain complete control, enabling a unique, branded experience. Key reasons why some financial institutions lean toward building include:

  • Control and Customization: In-house development provides total control over every feature, customization, and design elements, potentially enabling a bespoke solution.
  • Internal Knowledge: Some organizations view internal development as a chance to leverage their internal talent and deep domain expertise.
  • Data Sovereignty: When data security is a top priority, having full control over its storage and management can be advantageous.

While these reasons may seem compelling, the challenges of building often outweigh the benefits.

Why Building Comes with Significant Challenges

  • Costly Development and Maintenance: Building a digital engagement platform is a massive financial and resource commitment, with costs skyrocketing when factoring in design, development, infrastructure, and ongoing maintenance. Even after launch, banks face the expense and operational overhead of regular updates and support, making scalability a challenge.
  • Slower Time-to-Market: Financial institutions must keep up with rapid industry advancements and ambitious roadmaps. Building in-house can take months—or even years—to complete, by which time market needs may have shifted.
  • Strain on Internal Resources: Internal development often pulls teams away from core responsibilities, making it harder to balance innovation with day-to-day operations. Additionally, making changes to internally developed solutions can be time-consuming, leading to delays in adapting to evolving needs.

Why Buying a Financial Engagement Platform Makes Sense

Purchasing a specialized loyalty and member engagement solution designed specifically for retail financial institutions offers a practical alternative. For banks and credit unions, buying is not just about reducing costs—it’s about accessing a high-performing, customer-centric solution faster, so teams can focus on growth rather than building technology.

Key Advantages of Buying:

  • Fast, Reliable Deployment and Instant Return on Investment: A ready-to-use solution ensures quick, efficient deployment and resource allocation. Financial institutions can start delivering enhanced engagement experiences within weeks rather than months, leading to immediate benefits like increased customer loyalty and faster ROI.
  • Best-in-Class Security and Compliance: As a non-negotiable aspect of banking technology, licensed platforms are built to meet strict regulatory standards, enabling institutions to avoid the risks and costs associated with developing compliant systems from scratch. At Flourish Fi, our technology is designed with data security, privacy, and regulatory requirements at its core, reducing the compliance burden on internal teams.
  • Enhanced Customer Experience: Flourish Fi leverages behavioral science principles tailored to financial services, eliminating the need to reinvent the wheel. Its proven, pre-built features are optimized for personalized, data-driven engagement, driving increased customer loyalty and usage. Moreover, its white-label capability enables seamless adaptation to the institution’s branding, delivering a cohesive, customized experience aligned with its identity.
  • Cost Efficiency with Long-Term Scalability: Unlike custom-built solutions, which often require significant additional investment to scale, external platforms are designed for flexibility and growth. As a financial institution’s needs evolve, it adapts effortlessly, accommodating new products, services, and strategies without major overhauls.
  • Ongoing Support and Innovation: Licensing technology is not just a purchase—it’s a partnership. Flourish Fi clients benefit from ongoing support, industry insights, and regular updates, ensuring they stay ahead of industry trends. Furthermore, adding and expanding use cases is streamlined through simple configurations, eliminating the long wait times typically associated with custom development.

In today’s fast-paced banking, investing in Flourish Fi’s engagement and loyalty platform empowers institutions to deliver exceptional member experiences while focusing on your core mission—building lasting relationships. By leveraging a proven, ready-to-deploy solution, institutions can avoid the time and resource costs of developing in-house systems, ensuring faster time-to-market, reduced risk, and a smooth path to meeting evolving customer expectations.

Our CEO, Pedro Moura, will be speaking about partnerships vs. build/buy at the Mastercard Innovation Forum in Miami