Digital payment institutions frequently offer bonuses, such as a first-time user discount, a promotional code, or cashback. But regardless of its form, a bonus has the same goal — attracting new users and keeping existing ones. The question is, how is this business model profitable, and why is it primarily used by digital platforms?
We explain the model, the mechanism behind it, and the formulas that ensure a business keeps turning a profit.
Bonuses as a User Acquisition Strategy
Bonuses have evolved from simple promotional tools into structured user acquisition strategies. For example, the bonus aggregator BonusBase uses them to reduce friction and encourage users to start interacting with the platform, such as account registrations, first deposits, and early transactions.
In highly competitive deposit-based industries, users rarely rely on a single provider without comparing alternatives first. This is where bonus aggregators become important as a market layer: they help users navigate multiple platforms by organizing offers, explaining conditions, and reducing the time needed to evaluate which bonus is actually valuable. Instead of reacting only to promotional messaging, users can make decisions based on clearer comparisons and realistic expectations.
Incentives like bonuses are part of customer acquisition costs (CAC) and are considered an investment rather than just an expense. The success of this strategy is evaluated by measuring the cost of customers relative to their long-term user value (LTV).
So what is a good LTV-to-CAC ratio?
According to fintech and digital industry benchmarks, a sustainable model requires an LTV-to-CAC ratio of 3:1 or 4:1, so that the long-term value of a user significantly outweighs the cost of attracting them.
The issue with this business model is that users might leave shortly after using the bonus, so the business may never recover the initial investment. And the costs are far from low. In fintech, they range from $202 overall for individual customers to $14,772 for enterprise clients.
Incentives and User Behavior
Immediate rewards and limited-time offers exist to influence user behavior. They reduce hesitation and increase the perceived value of the service, and their influence is important both in the beginning and later when the user has already converted.
Turning users into returning customers and keeping them engaged is an important part of the strategy. Data from Varrilliance shows that returning users converted 73.72% more than first-time visitors, purchased more, and spent more. For existing users, businesses use different types of incentives, such as:
- Cashbacks
- Loyalty rewards
- Referrals
- Discounts
Incentives like these build trust and help create habits, especially if they’re integrated into regular platform usage.
However, not all users will respond the same way to incentives. Some are primarily bonus-driven and will turn to other platforms once they use the bonuses. Businesses need to take this into account and expect a part of the customer base to bounce after using the promotion.
Why Bonus Models Thrive in Deposit-Based Ecosystems
Bonus models thrive in deposit-based ecosystems because these platforms depend on transactions and deposits. This is the case with fintech, trading services, and digital wallets, whose revenue depends on fees, spreads, or transaction margins. In other words, they all need active user participation to succeed.
The first transaction is a key step in these environments, which is why businesses use bonuses to attract users, and many also use ongoing incentives to keep them.
The more competitive the industry, the more bonuses the platforms need, and, with time, bonuses have become a standard expectation in these industries. This is especially true in markets with low switching costs, where users can easily compare services and move between platforms.
User Value vs. Platform Profitability
The obvious issue with the bonus-driven model is ensuring that it’s worth the cost for the platform. While bonuses support growth, they also put financial pressure on the business, and balancing them requires real skill and industry knowledge.
Platforms keep the model sustainable by structuring incentives, whether through usage requirements or time limits. These elements of the mechanism make it more likely that the platform will recover the cost of bonuses.
However, it’s not only important to recover the cost, but also to do it quickly, which is why businesses track the time required to recover acquisition costs. This metric is called the CAC payback period, and typically, the shorter the payback period is, the healthier the business model.
Profitability is also the reason platforms create user tiers, VIP accounts, and ways to segment users by value. The users who engage and spend more are more valuable, so the platform is also willing to invest more resources.
Second Layer: Aggregation Platforms
However, the market is becoming saturated with various platforms, and users now need to sift through a ton of bonus structures and do calculations to make a choice. Bonus structures have become more complex, so the ecosystem introduced another layer — aggregation platforms.
These platforms collect, organize, and present offers from multiple providers. Their role is to simplify comparison and make the offers more transparent. So a centralized environment helps users review and compare these incentives without wasting time.
In practice, this changes how acquisition works for the original platforms. Instead of competing only through bigger headline bonuses, they also compete through clarity, realistic terms, and trust signals that aggregators highlight during comparison. For users, this reduces the risk of choosing an offer based only on marketing language and improves confidence before making the first deposit or transaction.
Unlike the promotional homepages of individual platforms, bonus aggregators also cover the conditions behind the offers, such as limitations, requirements, and eligibility criteria. This gives users a clearer view of the actual offer, not just the promotional messaging.
Thanks to this second layer, platforms also shift towards clearer communication, as their offers are more likely to be checked and compared side by side.
The second layer also affects user behavior, as users are more likely to be informed and compare the platforms before making a decision. Because of this, they increasingly value simple bonus structures, transparency, and consistency in platforms.
User Expectations as a Strategy Driver
While bonuses are not new, they are increasingly used by different digital platforms, evolving into more complex mechanisms. However, competition is not the only driver in the market. The users and review providers are also pushing for higher bonuses and overall usability, transparency, and real value.
