Cutting acquisition spend about 90%, under US lending-ad rules.
Case study. Our team at MPOWER Financing, before Rarecraft.
~90%less acquisition spend per dollar lent, 2023 to 2025
500+ambassadors in 39 countries
21%of eligible leads who joined a live Q&A applied, against 14% who didn’t
The constraint
MPOWER Financing lends to international students in 50+ countries. US lending-ad rules limit what an ad can say. Buyers are skeptical, and the team was small. In 2023, acquisition spend came to about 10% of loan volume.
What we did
Moved budget from paid reach to referrals, search, and ambassadors.
Built a peer network of students and alumni, from 40 to 500+ ambassadors in 39 countries.
Answered "Is this a scam?" with Trustpilot reviews and live Q&As. Eligible leads who attended applied at 21%; those who didn’t, at 14%.
The result
By 2025, acquisition spend was about 1% of loan volume.
Acquisition spendshare of loan volume
~10%2023
~1%2025
What it means for you
When ads are restricted and buyers doubt you, paid reach gets expensive fast. In that market, trust built by real customers did more per dollar than paid reach.