Turning Matches Into Real Dates: How Breeze Improved Verification Conversion With Prelude

Introduction

In collaboration with Danny Huigen, Software Engineer at Breeze, this customer story highlights how a fast-growing European dating app optimized user verification, protected its community, and improved onboarding conversion with Prelude.

Breeze is a dating app built around a simple idea: fewer screens, more real-life connection. Instead of endless swiping and chatting, Breeze helps people meet offline. When two users match, they’re invited to go on an actual date at a partner café or bar, skipping the long conversations that dominate most dating apps.

Founded in the Netherlands, Breeze has grown rapidly in the UK and is now expanding across Belgium, France, and Germany. As the platform scales, ensuring that every new user is real, verified, and able to complete onboarding smoothly is essential. SMS-based OTP verification plays a central role in that experience.

Optimizing Verification as Breeze Scales

As Breeze expanded into new markets and increased acquisition efforts, the team began looking more closely at their verification flow.

With higher volumes came new questions: how to ensure OTPs were only sent where Breeze was active, how to limit unnecessary traffic, and how to keep onboarding as smooth as possible for legitimate users.

“When we started analyzing our data more closely, we noticed traffic coming from countries we weren’t operating in. That was a signal for us to improve how our provider handled verification”

At the same time, Breeze wanted a setup where communication with their provider would be straightforward and responsive, should anything ever require quick attention.

Choosing Prelude: Improving Efficiency Without Adding Friction

Prelude stood out as a way to refine Breeze’s existing verification setup rather than overhaul it.

One immediate benefit was the ability to automatically filter suspicious traffic. Prelude blocks burner numbers, temporary phone numbers, and other high-risk patterns before messages are sent.

“One thing Prelude does that we didn’t have before is blocking burner and temporary phone numbers. When we looked some of them up manually, they appeared legitimate, but they weren’t. Prelude handled that automatically.”

This helped Breeze further protect its community while keeping the onboarding experience simple for real users.

Communication was another important factor. Breeze gained direct access to a responsive team they could rely on when needed.

“If something ever comes up, we know exactly who to contact. That peace of mind is important for us.”

A 1% Increase That Matters at Scale

Beyond protection and visibility, the most measurable impact was on conversion.

Breeze tracks its verification funnel internally, from phone number submission to successful OTP validation. After switching to Prelude, the team measured a 1% estimated increase in successful verifications, with conversion improving from 92% to 93%.

“At first, 1% doesn’t sound like much. But when you look at it at scale, it makes a real difference. That extra percentage point means more real users completing the verification flow,” Danny explains.

For a consumer app investing heavily in user acquisition, this improvement translates into better marketing efficiency and more users reaching the core product experience: meeting in real life.

Built for Developers, Clear for Teams

From an engineering perspective, Prelude integrated smoothly into Breeze’s existing stack. The documentation and SDKs made implementation straightforward, and the dashboard provided clear visibility into traffic and delivery.

“As a developer, the documentation and SDKs are really well put together. And the dashboard is clear and easy to use.”

This visibility allows the Breeze team to monitor performance confidently and focus their attention where it matters most.

Shared Incentives, Shared Outcomes

What resonated most with Breeze was Prelude’s incentive model.

Prelude does not benefit from sending more SMS. Blocking fraud, optimizing delivery, and improving conversion benefit both sides.

“Breeze is built around aligning incentives between users, partners, and the company. Prelude works the same way, and that alignment really matters.”

Looking Ahead

As Breeze continues to expand across Europe and explore new formats such as group dates, blind dates, and offline events, reliable and efficient verification remains a core foundation of the product.

With Prelude, Breeze has strengthened its verification flow, improved onboarding efficiency, and gained a responsive partner that supports growth without adding friction.

Danny sums it up clearly:

“If you’re not technical, the conversion improvement alone makes a real difference. And if you are technical, the SDKs, documentation, and communication work really well.”