Radius Bank, a digital bank with one branch and $1.4 billion in assets, is joining the growing movement among financial institutions that want to move away from paid search to automated customer acquisition methods.

The bank announced Thursday that it’s integrating a new savings account with financial advice platform and referral engine NerdWallet, allowing customers who share their data with the third-party platform to receive targeted offers from the bank.

“Paid search and channels are great, but there is only so much demand out there,” said Kyle Costello, vice president of emerging technologies at Radius. “When we play in that space, we’re [competing] against the likes of the trillion-dollar banks.” Where Radius has a competitive advantage, explained Costello, is reaching customers while they’re shopping for financial products.

Although Radius’ tie-up with NerdWallet is the most recent example of a bank acquiring customers through a third-party platform, it is far from the first. Even Financial, for example, connects major institutions like American Express, Marcus by Goldman Sachs and LendingClub to partner sites that help customers search for new financial products. API development partners like Even take data customers share with platforms and connect them with relevant products. It’s a play by financial institutions to go beyond paid advertising and serve up tailored offers based on customer data.

Even CEO Phillip Rosen said digital banks are facing an increasingly difficult task of acquiring customers through paid advertising because there are a finite number of consumers who have done their research and are actively looking for an online bank. 

“That finite pool is [causing] an increasing number of banks and financial service providers to compete over customers every day, so that’s driving the cost [of acquisition] up,” Rosen said. Even works with partner sites like Penny Hoarder, Clarity Money and TransUnion’s consumer marketplace.

See also: Radius bundles savings and debit rewards to build brand and deposit base

Meanwhile, Radius uses Treasury Prime as its API development partner. NerdWallet is one of many platforms that act as automated referral channels for banks. Credit Karma, for example, connects customers to auto loans, home loans and credit cards, as does rival Credit Sesame. With the NerdWallet and Radius partnership, NerdWallet app users will be able to apply for Radius savings accounts without having to leave the app. 

According to Radius, this is the first time NerdWallet will promote an institution’s product without forcing users to leave the platform to apply. Radius is still refining which NerdWallet users will see Radius’ savings accounts, but the bank wants to target engaged users who frequently use NerdWallet’s services, the bank noted.

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