Wellby Financial needed a better way to track and follow up on abandoned online applications for loans and deposit accounts. By leveraging a custom integration between MeridianLink and HubSpot, built by GreenHouse Agency, they were able to reduce application abandonment rates dramatically. Through better marketing automation, actionable insights, and a focus on improving the digital banking experience, Wellby has recovered more than $17M in revenue to date (September 2024 to June 2025) and established a strong foundation for continued digital transformation.
Who is Wellby Financial?
Wellby Financial is a credit union based in Texas, committed to helping individuals and families achieve financial peace of mind. Rooted in the values of community, trust, and service, Wellby’s mission is to provide the best member experience and enhanced financial well-being through its portfolio of financial services. But they offer more than just a place to open a checking account. Members benefit from a wide range of personalized financial solutions designed to support every stage of life.
From everyday banking to long-term financial planning, Wellby’s offerings include:
- Savings and Checking Accounts
- Auto Loans and Refinancing
- Home Loans and Mortgage Services
- Personal Loans and Lines of Credit
- Credit Cards
- Financial Education and Resources
At its core, Wellby Financial is more than just a lender or bank; it’s a financial partner. Every product and service is designed with member success in mind, aiming to help members reach their goals and navigate life’s financial ups and downs with confidence.
The Challenge Wellby Faced
Before their HubSpot and MeridianLink solution, Wellby faced several significant challenges:
- High Abandonment Rates: More than 85% of started deposit and loan applications were abandoned without a way to track or optimize these KPIs.
- No Follow-up on Abandoned Applications: Without centralized CRM data, abandoned applications were left untouched with no nurture workflows.
- Lack of Revenue Attribution: Marketing efforts could not tie ad campaigns to actual funded loans or deposits, leaving ROI a mystery.
One of the biggest challenges Wellby Financial faced was accurately tracking returning applicants. Without a reliable way to identify and update application statuses, the team risked duplicate submissions and lacked visibility into critical performance metrics like cost per application and funded loan attribution.
The Solution
The project centered around integrating MeridianLink's loan origination system (LOS) and application tracking data into HubSpot to power marketing automation and reporting. Here's how it was done:
- Operations Hub Pro: Custom code actions enabled the team to consolidate complex workflows into efficient automations.
- Real-Time Application Status Updates: Application progress, funding status, and amounts were pushed back into HubSpot to enrich contact records and deals.
- Customized Pipelines: Separate deal pipelines for each financial institution product type, like auto loans, mortgages, and deposit accounts, were created, automatically updating deal stages based on application status.
- Automated Nurture Series: Always-on workflows sent targeted email follow-ups to applicants who abandoned their applications, encouraging them to finish.
- Ad Platform Connections: Integrating Google and Meta directly with HubSpot enabled precise attribution reporting for each ad, campaign, and channel.
The Results + Impact
The HubSpot and MeridianLink integration transformed Wellby Financial’s ability to track, engage, and convert applicants. Both operational efficiency and marketing performance saw measurable improvements:
- Real-Time Revenue Dashboards: For the first time, loan and deposit revenue could be tracked visually in HubSpot, in real time. This visibility gave stakeholders instant insight into performance by channel, product type, and campaign.
- Automated Abandonment Nurtures: Applicants who abandoned an application received a follow-up email series, significantly boosting completion rates and re-engaged leads that would have otherwise gone cold.
- Attribution and ROI Tracking: Marketing teams could now confidently track key metrics like cost per application, cost per funded loan, and cost per deposit. This visibility enabled smarter budget allocation and clearer reporting on campaign effectiveness.
- Deposit Growth: Of the $17M in recovered opportunities tied to the nurture workflows, about 20% came from new deposits – an area typically difficult to influence in digital acquisition strategies.
This integration not only solved key tracking and engagement issues, but it also became a revenue-generating engine. The project paid for itself quickly and delivered ROI well beyond the initial investment.
Lessons Learned & What’s Next
One of the key lessons from Wellby's success is that improving the lending process doesn't always require switching LOS or DAO providers. Even relatively simple initiatives, like an abandoned application email series, can deliver outsized returns if executed thoughtfully. Future optimization plans include:
- Sales Team Engagement: Sending abandoned applications to a sales team member for personalized follow-up after the second email to increase completions.
- Cadence Testing: Adjusting email send frequencies to members to further boost conversion rates.
- Multichannel Nurture: Adding SMS or live chat (with platforms like Glia) for faster, more direct applicant engagement.
- Dynamic Outreach: Instead of only sending emails, triggering live engagement requests for co-browsing or real-time assistance, which could significantly increase completed applications.
Wellby’s success proves that strategic digital lending improvements, coupled with a modern platform like HubSpot and MeridianLink, can lead to better member experiences, improved financial performance, and a smarter marketing operation.
The Project Takeaways
Accurate application tracking and revenue attribution aren’t just helpful – they’re essential for understanding performance and making informed decisions. Well-timed, strategic follow-up can yield outsized returns, and abandoned applications represent one of the easiest wins for credit unions willing to invest in digital transformation. Data points like email open rates, click-throughs, and timing of reconversions are actionable insights that can shape smarter workflows and stronger results.
Through a strategic, data-driven integration between MeridianLink and HubSpot, Wellby Financial Credit Union recovered $17M in revenue over 10 months, enhanced its member experience, and modernized its digital lending process. With new engagement channels and ongoing optimizations ahead, this success story is just the beginning.
Looking to drive similar results for your credit union?
Contact GreenHouse Agency to learn how we can help you build connected systems and smarter member journeys.
