Bravera Bank

Turning invisible auto loan customers into core banking relationships

Using NGDATA's Intelligent Engagement Platform, Bravera Bank identified and activated its indirect auto loan customer base — converting 10.6% into checking account holders and generating over $1 million in new deposits.

The challenge

A portfolio full of strangers

Bravera Bank had a healthy indirect auto lending business — but it came with a hidden liability. Customers who financed their vehicles through dealerships had a loan with Bravera, yet had never stepped into a branch or engaged with the bank in any meaningful way. From a relationship standpoint, they were strangers.

Without a direct touchpoint or behavioral data beyond loan payments, these customers were effectively invisible to Bravera's retail banking team. The opportunity to deepen these relationships — to convert a transactional loan customer into a full-service banking household — was going unrealized at scale, and with each passing month these customers risked drifting further toward a competitor.

The solution

Turning loan data into relationship intelligence

Bravera Bank deployed NGDATA's Intelligent Engagement Platform to systematically identify and profile its indirect auto loan customer base. The platform analyzed available customer data to segment this population by engagement potential — prioritizing customers most likely to benefit from and respond to a full banking relationship with Bravera.

With that segmentation in place, Bravera launched a targeted, multi-touch engagement journey designed to introduce these customers to the bank beyond their loan. Personalized outreach highlighted the convenience, value, and tangible benefits of opening a Bravera checking account — meeting customers through their preferred channels at the right moment in their loan lifecycle.

The result

10.6% conversion and $1 million in new deposits

The campaign delivered results that significantly outpaced traditional broad-based acquisition efforts. Of the indirect auto loan customers targeted, 10.6% opened a checking account with Bravera Bank — converting a previously dormant lending relationship into an active, deposit-bearing household.

The financial impact was immediate and measurable: the campaign generated over $1 million in new deposits, expanding Bravera's core deposit base while deepening relationships with customers who already had a loan with the bank. Checking account customers carry meaningfully higher lifetime value, creating compounding returns through debit card usage, direct deposit, and future cross-sell opportunities in savings, home
equity, and beyond.

The partnership

Building a foundation for ongoing growth

What began as a targeted campaign to activate Bravera's indirect auto loan base has become a foundational capability within the bank's customer growth strategy. The ability to identify underengaged customer segments and bring them into the full banking fold — before they look elsewhere — is now a repeatable, ongoing program.

For a community bank committed to serving North Dakota families and businesses, that means deeper relationships, stronger deposit growth, and a banking experience that meets customers wherever their journey begins — even when it starts at a car dealership.

Campaign cycle: 2025