Case Study: Bitmo achieves 300% improved user onboarding and lower-cost ACH payments with Dwolla

Mobile Technology & ACH Payments The Gift That Keeps On Giving with Bitmo

Bitmo, a mobile app that lets users send digital gift cards via text, faced rising payment costs and severe onboarding friction as it scaled. Credit card processing would have taken 2–3% of many small transactions, and Bitmo’s first payment provider flagged 20–30% of new signups with overly aggressive identity checks. To move money more efficiently and improve activation rates, Bitmo turned to Dwolla.

Dwolla provided ACH rails and account verification (via Dwolla IAV and its integration with Plaid), plus features like On‑Demand Transfers and Next Day ACH. The switch cut reliance on costly card rails, delivered a roughly 300% improvement in user onboarding, noticeably better user experience and faster issue resolution, and let Bitmo focus on growth while Dwolla handled payments and support.

Bitmo

Mike Smallwood

CEO & Founder