Why every letting platform should think like a neobank. Onboarding, retention, embedded finance — not listings — are the real product. | AI Insights | Lumman.ai

Most letting platforms are stuck in 2008.

They still think their job is to show you a list of flats and hope you pick one, like they’re running a glorified online noticeboard. The faster they can get you from search to signature, the better they think they’re doing.

But here’s the truth: the listing is not the product. The listing is the bait.

The real business happens after the match — in the months and years when money moves, upgrades happen, circumstances change, and a renter becomes a long-term customer.

And if letting platforms keep thinking like marketplaces, they’ll miss the entire point. They need to start thinking like neobanks.

Neobanks don’t make their money on account openings

They make it by embedding themselves into your financial life.

Revolut, Monzo, N26 — these aren’t just banks with slick UIs. They’re full-stack relationship machines. You open an account, and over time they learn how you spend, save, invest, travel. Then they start showing up in smart ways: nudging you to round up your purchases, predicting when you’ll go into overdraft, offering credit based on actual behaviour instead of static criteria.

Letting platforms need that same mindset.

Because the average renter isn’t just clicking once and vanishing — they’re signing up for a multi-year financial relationship. One where stuff breaks, rents change, jobs move, relationships evolve, and deposits hang in the air like unresolved trust issues.

That’s years of transactions, moments of frustration, loyalty to be built — or lost.

So why do most letting platforms treat tenant onboarding like a checkout page?

Onboarding is an IQ test, and most fail

Think about what happens when you rent a flat through one of the big platforms. You spend 15 minutes crafting an enquiry that probably goes into a black hole. Then someone asks you to prove you exist. You upload your passport. Then your utility bill. Then your pay slip. Then something else because a box didn’t tick somewhere.

It’s tedious. It’s fragmented. It’s anti-product thinking.

Now flip that scenario.

Imagine if the moment you hit "I'm interested," the platform said:

"Cool. We’ll pre-verify you in under 2 minutes. Connect your bank, upload one doc, and we’ll surface listings you’ll actually qualify for. No surprises, no repeats."

Better yet — if I’m a good tenant, the system should know. If I’ve been renting for five years with no issues, never missed a payment, and haven’t left a trail of broken boilers and unpaid water bills, that should count for something. A rental credit score, if you like.

Neobanks nailed this early. They let you onboard with a selfie, give you an account in five minutes, and start analysing from there. The underwriting happens after they know you — not before.

Letting platforms should do the same.

Retention is a growth strategy, not an afterthought

Most platforms obsess over growth metrics — new signups, new listings, new tenancies started.

But what if your retention rate told you more about your business than signups ever could?

Neobanks learned early that keeping a user is 10x cheaper than acquiring a new one. More importantly, the user who sticks around starts using you for everything. You move from one tiny line on their credit file to the dashboard of their financial life.

For platforms, the renter who sticks around isn’t just paying rent. They’re renewing, upgrading, referring, trusting.

They’re the customer you can actually build new products on.

So why do most letting platforms ghost them as soon as the lease is signed?

Why is there no post-rental experience?

Where’s the dashboard that holds my tenancy terms, automates my renewals, flags rent increases, offers me renters’ insurance or broadband with one tap, predicts my next move and gets me pre-approved?

There is zero good reason I should be starting from scratch every 12 months.

Embedded finance is the killer feature

Here’s the part where letting platforms could actually become interesting: finance.

Not fintech bells and whistles. Real, embedded services that solve actual problems renters face.

Start with deposits. Why tie up £2,000 in a dead bank account when a smart platform could offer deposit insurance, verified by real tenancy data?

Or rent payments. Why not offer flexible payment terms or verified rent-to-income tracking that helps renters build credit?

Or joint rental accounts. Most renters split costs. Why not offer a shared virtual wallet that auto-divides rent and bills, alerts when payments are missed, and gives visibility without drama?

There’s so much low-hanging fruit here, it’s wild.

The data’s already there. The relationships are already halfway built. The only thing missing is the product thinking — and the nerve.

If the payments are recurring, the relationship should be too

Platforms like Spotify, Netflix, and Monzo understand the one rule most letting platforms still don’t: if a user pays you every month, you have to be in their life beyond the transaction.

Otherwise, someone else will be.

Right now, landlords are leaving the platform to manage tenants manually via email and spreadsheets. Tenants are setting monthly reminders for bank transfers and texting when the boiler dies. It’s chaos.

Want to fix churn? Want to drive margin? Want to own the customer?

Then own the relationship. Not just the listing.

Three mental shifts that will define the next generation of letting platforms:

Don’t sell properties — serve people.
Think beyond the listing. What else does a high-LTV renter need: insurance, broadband, housemate matching, deposit alternatives? You’re not a classifieds site. You’re a renter’s financial home base.
Make onboarding a feature, not a funnel.
Tenancy decisions are financial decisions. Start treating them like credit products. Smart KYC, soft data, and pre-approval functionality aren’t just compliance tactics — they’re growth engines.
Move from transaction to relationship.
If your platform disappears after the contract is signed, you're a short-term solution to a long-term problem. Neobank the renter experience. Become indispensable.

Most letting platforms are still trying to fill units.

The best ones will start filling lives.