In a digital landscape where attention is fleeting and trust is hard-earned, financial brands are under pressure to engage consumers in radically new ways. That was the focus of our webcast, From Scroll to Stick: Rethinking the Marketing Funnel with AI + Storytelling—a conversation with Jessica Manna (VP of Growth Marketing at Better), Bill Davaris (Co-CEO at Malka), and Peter Renton (CEO of Renton & Co.).
Their message was clear: the future of financial engagement is already here—and it’s powered by AI, personalized media experiences, and a reimagined funnel that starts with storytelling, not transactions.
One of the most striking examples from the webcast came from Better.com’s use of AI to reimagine the mortgage experience—from the first call to internal processing.
Meet Betsy™: Better.com’s Voice-Driven Mortgage Assistant
In a mortgage environment shaped by high interest rates and shrinking demand, every lead matters—and every moment counts. But staffing a 24/7 call center with licensed loan officers across all 50 states is both complex and costly.
That’s exactly the gap Betsy™ fills.
More than just a digital agent, Betsy is a voice-driven mortgage consultant powered by Tinman—an AI-powered, rules-based decision engine and software platform. With access to full customer and loan context—including CRM, pricing, eligibility, and document data—Betsy can respond intelligently to customer inquiries at any time of day.
“Tinman gives Betsy the full picture,” said Jessica Manna, VP of Growth Marketing at Better. “When someone calls in, Betsy already knows who they are, what they need, and can act immediately—day or night.”
Before Betsy, up to 40% of calls were missed during off-hours. Now, every call gets answered—instantly. But Betsy’s influence doesn’t stop at the frontlines. Internally, she’s being used by loan originators, processors, and underwriters to help resolve borrower issues, clear suspended loan files, and ensure every qualified customer gets the right loan structure—all with speed and accuracy.
“Betsy is now part of the operations engine,” said Manna. “She’s not just talking to customers—she’s helping our teams work faster and smarter behind the scenes.”
Betsy represents a new model for service in financial services—one that blends intelligence, automation, and empathy to scale operations while enhancing the customer experience.
Going Beyond Support: Designing Humanlike Engagement
One caller even ended up chatting with Betsy about their favorite podcast—completely unaware they were speaking with an AI. That kind of interaction isn’t just a novelty—it’s a sign that trust and connection are forming.
She doesn’t just answer questions—she recognizes intent. If a borrower seems ready to talk to a loan officer, Betsy doesn’t just hand off the call—she makes it feel seamless. She’ll warm-transfer in real time, engaging in casual chitchat while routing the conversation, easing tension and building rapport.
“She sounds like a real human,” Manna shared. “We’ve spent countless hours getting the tone right. Betsy can adapt to the conversation, pick up on emotional cues, and make the experience feel personal.”
And that human touch is intentional.
“It’s not just about capability—it’s about empathy,” Manna emphasized. “Because if Betsy doesn’t sound human, none of her skills matter.”
Today’s consumers don’t just expect fast service—they expect experiences that feel thoughtful and human. That blend of intelligence and warmth has had a measurable impact:
● 320% increase in lead-to-application rate
● 200% increase in lead-to-funded rate
● 24/7 service without additional call center costs
That same expectation for empathy and intelligence extends beyond voice assistants and into content. Consumers don’t separate financial services from the rest of their digital lives—they compare every experience to their favorite social and media apps.
“Everything around them is getting just a little bit smarter with each interaction,” Manna noted. “So when they land at your door, they expect you to already know who they are and deliver a delightful, relevant experience.”
Why Financial Brands Need to Think Like Media Companies
The traditional financial app—static, transactional, utility-based—is no longer enough to keep users engaged. To drive retention, trust, and daily active usage, brands need to become content destinations in their own right. That was the crux of Bill Davaris’s perspective as Co-President of Malka, the creative engine behind the media transformation of MoneyLion, a personal finance management app.
“We’re not just building features—we’re building habits,” Davaris explained. “And habits are built through content.”
By embedding a personalized, social-style content feed directly into MoneyLion’s app, the company has created an experience that mirrors the best of platforms like Instagram, Reddit, and TikTok. Users can scroll through videos, articles, and tools tailored to their financial goals—whether that’s building credit, budgeting, or understanding stocks.
But the real innovation comes from what Davaris calls the “social waterfall.”
Many users first encounter MoneyLion’s brand through viral finance content on platforms like TikTok or Instagram. Instead of clicking through to a static landing page or app store, they’re dropped directly into a familiar, social-like feed inside the app—a seamless transition from discovery to deeper engagement.
“It’s not just about converting social traffic,” said Davaris. “It’s about giving that traffic a reason to stick around. If your app feels like an extension of the content they already enjoy, you’ve dramatically reduced the friction between awareness and action.”
This social waterfall creates a loop:
- Enter through social content
- Land in a feed that feels native and personalized
- Engage, explore, return—and share
That loop is working. MoneyLion’s feed now delivers over 40 million impressions per week, with content consumption driving dramatic increases in time spent, habitual usage, and ultimately, monetization.
“It’s become the most revenue-driving tab in the app,” Davaris shared. “But more importantly, it’s changed how people relate to their finances. They’re not logging in once a month to check a balance—they’re coming back daily for insight, encouragement, and discovery.”
This model is now catching on across the industry—from lending to wealth management—reframing financial apps not as tools, but as daily destinations.
Feeding the Feed: How AI Drives Content at Scale
From warm voice interactions to social-inspired content feeds, one thing is clear: the next era of financial engagement isn’t just about being faster or cheaper. It’s about becoming smarter, more intuitive, and deeply personal—without sacrificing trust or empathy.
At the core of this transformation is data. As Jessica Manna emphasized, success with AI starts by getting your data house in order.
“You can’t deliver personalized experiences if your systems are fragmented,” she said. “You need integrated access to pricing, eligibility, CRM, and more—and that’s what powers platforms like Betsy.”
Bill Davaris echoed this with a creative spin: “It’s not just about data feeding the product—it’s about data feeding the experience.”
“That’s why we are building AI content workflows that scale both personalization and production,” said Bill Davaris, Co-President of Malka. “It’s about perpetual discovery—piloting new types of content and quickly turning them into repeatable, branded assets.”
The process is structured in two phases:
- Discovery: Experiment and perfect a new content genre (e.g., a video style or tone)
- Manufacturing: Archive the prompting protocol and reuse it to generate brand-specific content in as little as 10–30 minutes
This framework allows financial brands to meet demand for high-volume, high-quality creative at speed—something that’s increasingly essential as apps evolve into daily destinations.
“We’re all working on our version of the ultimate high-value digital destination,” Davaris said. “The holy grail is an experience people want to visit every day. And the brands most in tune with culture and content—the ones who feel native to the consumer’s digital life—have the edge in making that leap.”
That daily value loop often begins with authenticity.
The Takeaway: AI Isn’t Just Automating Finance—It’s Humanizing It
Davaris offered a glimpse of what’s next: personalized offers delivered not as static banners or emails, but as AI-generated, interactive video. Imagine an avatar presenting a mortgage rate tailored to you—and answering your questions, right there in the app.
“It’s completely programmable,” Davaris said. “We’re going to see offers become stories. Dynamic, engaging, and responsive to how the user interacts with them.”
That future isn’t far off. It’s being built right now by teams leaning into automation without losing the human touch—teams who recognize that personalization isn't a feature, but an expectation.
The brands that win will be those that stop thinking of marketing as a funnel—and start building ecosystems where people come to learn, explore, and make confident decisions.