You’re a fintech product manager. Let’s say your customer acquisition cost (CAC) is $100, and your lifetime value (LTV) is a healthy $200. A new user discovers your app, gets excited, downloads it. Things are going exactly as you designed until they hit a snag linking their bank account. Spoiler: their bank isn’t supported by your single data aggregator. They try again, maybe twice. Frustrated, they abandon the process entirely and delete your app.

That’s churn, baby.

Do not pass go. Do not collect $200.

This happens more often than you’d think, especially when you’re relying on a single data aggregator for what’s arguably the most critical bottleneck in the fintech customer onboarding journey.

It’s a hard pill to swallow—watching your users slip through the cracks not because your product isn’t great, but because you’re unable to support their needs in a moment that matters.

How many users are you going to let fall out of funnel before you do something about it? What can you do?

That’s when you realize: you don’t need data aggregation; you need data orchestration. 

Data Aggregation vs. Data Orchestration

For years, relying on a single data aggregator has been the default approach. After all, nobody gets fired for sticking with the status quo.

This worked in theory and for a while, but it was only a matter of time before the underlying issues of working with a single aggregator became too big to ignore. Limited bank coverage, inconsistent data quality, and nose-bleed costs have come home to roost– especially when you’re scaling or serving a diverse demographic.

So as a fintech product manager– what can you do? Enter open banking Open Banking data orchestration. Leveraging their strengths over each other when it matters most. At the base level, data orchestration is about working with many data aggregators at once and leveraging their strengths to ensure the best outcomes when it matters most 

But it’s more than that. 

Quiltt’s Approach to Smart Routing

At the core of data orchestration is smart routing. Instead of relying on a single aggregator, our platform evaluates multiple data aggregators– in real-time– to find the most reliable, cost-effective, and timely route for each connection. 

Bank supported? Check.

Data products covered? Check.

OAuth connection available? Check.

Who’s your preferred aggregator, all else equal?

No more coverage gaps. No more screen scraping connections. Just smooth, reliable user onboarding– exactly how it should be.

For a deeper dive into how it all works, our Streamlining Data Connectivity for Fintechs Whitepaper explains how Quiltt’s smart routing dynamically matches the best data provider to each connection. Whether it’s routing a user’s authentication request to the most reliable aggregator or prioritizing cost-effective providers for lower-value transactions, Quiltt ensures every connection is optimized for conversion.

Why It Matters: The Benefits of Data Orchestration

1. No More Coverage Gaps: With orchestration, your users can find their bank, complete onboarding, and actually use your app. Aggregating coverage across multiple providers ensures no one slips through the cracks.
2. Lower Costs, Better Margins: Smart routing cuts your reliance on premium data providers, keeping CAC in check and protecting that precious LTV.
3. Improved Experience: Favoring OAuth connections means faster responses and more accurate data. Users are happier, regulators are happier, and you get to keep more of that sweet LTV instead of watching it churn away.
4. One Integration, Infinite Options: The pièce de résistance—Quiltt gives you all these benefits with a single integration. A few lines of code, and you’re done. Now your engineers can focus on building your core product instead of wrangling aggregators.

Avoid the Churn—Orchestrate FTWIn his 2024 article "Aggregating the Aggregators," Alex Johnson discussed the emergence of ‘super aggregators.’ He notes these platforms enhance flexibility and redundancy, enabling fintechs to integrate diverse data sources without the heavy costs and development overhead of building and maintaining multiple connections. 

Here at Quiltt– we couldn’t agree more.

By adopting data orchestration, you can move beyond the limitations of single-source aggregation. You can eliminate the bottlenecks frustrating your users and leading to churn, and you can do this while keeping a lid on your costs. You don’t even need to rip out your current provider—start by offering a no-risk fallback for users in your funnel who can’t find or connect their bank the first time. It’s a simple, effective first step to working with Quiltt and maximizing your CAC.

Because in this game, you either orchestrate—or you watch your users churn.

Reach out to us. We’re here to help you build better and be more efficient.