ACTIVOBANK: REWARDING DEPOSITS WITH DREAM DESTINATIONS
Two consecutive travel campaigns captured the attention of young professionals through aspirational rewards
Our Sectors
Financial Services
Client
ActivoBank
Solutions
Acquisition Programs
Location
Portugal
Overview
As one of Portugal’s digital banking pioneers, ActivoBank has shaped its reputation around innovation and making banking feel more accessible to modern customers.
However, convincing customers to open salary accounts – checking accounts to receive their salary by direct deposit (“salary accounts”) – required more than a strong digital experience.
For most customers, choosing a bank is rarely seen as an emotional decision. Checking accounts, mobile apps, payment cards, and online services can often feel similar, making it increasingly difficult for banks to create meaningful differentiation.
ActivoBank understood that its target audience of young professionals valued experiences just as much as financial benefits. Typically educated, digitally savvy, and earning their first significant salaries, these customers place importance on experiences that enrich their lives and help them make the most of their new income.
Partnering with TLC Worldwide, ActivoBank transformed salary account acquisition from a functional banking decision into something customers actively wanted to engage with. Having first partnered several years earlier, ActivoBank returned to TLC in 2025 and 2026 for two consecutive campaigns. The bank used the enduring appeal of travel to attract new customers and reinforce its position as a modern lifestyle banking brand.
The Challenge
For ActivoBank's target audience, switching a salary account can feel like an administrative burden. The challenge was to generate awareness while motivating customers to take action.
The bank also wanted to resonate with this younger demographic that values experiences and prioritizes memorable moments over more transactional rewards.
Why TLC
ActivoBank selected TLC Worldwide for our proven expertise in travel rewards, campaign delivery, and customer experience management.
With over 30 years of experience designing reward-led acquisition and loyalty programs, TLC offers brands access to a global travel ecosystem covering flights, hotels, travel experiences, and destination-based rewards.
Travel rewards are highly effective when executed correctly, but they also require careful management, fulfillment expertise, and access to strong travel partnerships. We provided ActivoBank with an end-to-end solution covering everything from reward sourcing to customer service.
By combining strategic insights with operational delivery, TLC helped ActivoBank turn salary account acquisition into a more memorable and motivating customer journey.
The TLC Approach
Campaign 1: Give Your Salary Wings
Customers opening a qualifying salary account received a return trip for two, to one of three carefully selected destinations: Prague, Ibiza, or Marrakech, each offering a different style of escape.
Campaign 2: Take Your Salary to New Heights
Building on their previous campaign, ActivoBank ran a second travel promotion, expanding destination options to include Paris, London, Rome, Barcelona, Amsterdam, Berlin, Vienna, Dublin, Budapest, Zurich, and more.
Supported by a multi-channel communications strategy, the campaign further strengthened the connection between ActivoBank and their target audience’s travel aspirations.
Together, the two campaigns demonstrated that travel doesn’t have to be a one-off incentive – it’s a powerful acquisition mechanic capable of driving continued customer interest and engagement over time.
The Results
The 2025 "Give Your Salary Wings" campaign generated increased salary account acquisition across both existing ActivoBank customers and new prospects, driving cross-sell activity as well as attention. The campaign also contributed to improvements in customer satisfaction and NPS.
2026’s "Take Your Salary to New Heights" campaign delivered an immediate uplift in salary account acquisition and successfully attracted customers with higher average salary values than the bank's original acquisition target. Supported by a high-visibility influencer and CRM strategy, the campaign also generated strong awareness and engagement among ActivoBank's target audience.
By leveraging travel as an acquisition mechanic, ActivoBank successfully transformed a functional banking decision into an emotionally rewarding experience – helping the brand stand out and meaningfully engage customers.
RETURN TRIPS
for 2
to Prague, Ibiza, and Marrakech.
14
EUROPEAN DESTINATIONS
offering more travel choice in the follow-up campaign.
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