- Media
Optimising purely for FTDs trains operators to think short-term, says marketing leader
Optimising purely for First-Time-Deposits (FTDs) trains platforms, affiliates, and operators to think short-term and rewards volume over quality, Line Peteri, Vice President of Strategic Partnerships and Affiliation at ATFX, told Game Lounge Media.
Peteri, a senior growth and marketing leader with nearly 25 years of experience across different sectors, including fintech, iGaming, and e-commerce, recently participated in a fireside chat in Barcelona with the topic of ‘Moving Past the FTD’.
How the industry views FTDs
When asked by Game Lounge Media why FTDs may be holding back the iGaming industry, and how the industry could address the issue, Peteri replied that the industry has treated FTDs as “a growth strategy rather than what it really is; a single milestone”. She commented that two FTDs can look identical, but ultimately deliver completely different long-term value.
She continued that moving past this matter requires shifting incentives towards value metrics such as ARPU, early engagement, deposit velocity, and retention signals. “The industry already has the data to do this,” she remarked. “The challenge is cultural, not technical. Teams need to be willing to optimise outcomes, not just easy-to-measure events.”
Value of brand partnerships
Peteri has extensive experience in partnerships, growth strategy, and brand building across different regions, and so Game Lounge Media asked her for insight as to what makes partnerships and brand relationships important in the fintech and iGaming industries.
She replied that both fintech and iGaming operate in “high-trust, high-risk environments,” as she continued that “regulation is complex, customer acquisition is expensive, and long-term value depends on credibility and retention rather than one-off transactions”.
With that in mind, Peteri said that strong partnerships extend trust, accelerate market entry, and allow brands to scale faster without building everything internally. She added that the best partnerships are about shared standards, aligned incentives, and long-term value creation, rather than simply being about reach alone.
Continuing on that topic, she was asked for her thoughts as to what makes a potential partnership stand out or worth pursuing, to which she responded that a partnership stands out when there is clear alignment on objectives, audience quality, and the measurement of success beyond surface metrics.
“I look for partners who understand lifetime value, not just acquisition volume, and who are willing to share enough data to optimise properly. Transparency, realistic expectations, and a willingness to test and iterate are usually stronger indicators of success than brand size alone,” Peteri stated.
She was also asked about how she generally begins developing partnerships, as well as if she takes a different approach when dealing with partners from different industries or with different audiences.
She said that most strong partnerships start with a small yet clearly defined pilot rather than a large commercial commitment. This approach, she said, becomes even more important when working across industries or audiences, and one needs to validate assumptions early, as well as understand differences in customer behaviour, and align on terminology and success metrics. She added that what works in gaming, for example, does not always translate directly to fintech and vice versa, “so adaptability and listening are critical”.
Staying on the topic of the differences between industries, Game Lounge Media asked Peteri about how her experience has differed across the industries that she has worked in, as well as what the experience of building brands in different regions of the world has been like.
“The fundamentals are the same everywhere,” she began. “Trust, relevance, and consistency matter. What changes is how they are expressed. Building brands globally has taught me that western norms are often treated as default, which can limit growth and alienate teams and customers. The strongest brands respect local context while maintaining clear global principles. Flexibility in how teams work and how markets are approached is often a competitive advantage.”
Why integrity matters
On a final note, Peteri remarked that one of the most important lessons that she has learned throughout her career is that integrity compounds. She stated that short-term wins that compromise values usually show up later as churn, misalignment, or reputational damage. She concluded that being clear about what you will and will not do, “even when it is uncomfortable,” ultimately builds stronger teams, better partnerships, and more sustainable businesses over time.
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