What You Need To Know About Gamification In Finance And Banking

Financial sector businesses are constantly looking for innovative solutions that will help them stand out from the competition. In this regard, Gamification is an interesting area to look at. But what exactly is Gamification in Finance and Banking, and how exactly does it work?

Gamification in the financial sector involves turning everyday financial processes into milestone-based tasks and rewards-type activities, which are simplified and made enjoyable through gaming mechanics normally used in video games.

Thanks to Gamification, the financial sector enjoys a massive increase in customer engagement and knowledge of banking products and financial services while boosting the fun element of the customer experience. People who take part in these activities are provided with instant gratification, and some banks even include social collaboration, multi-app integration, and many other perks to elevate service and brand awareness.

If you’re skeptical about the concept of gaming as a solution for a serious financial business, you may want to reconsider. Many leading financial institutions have already Gamified their products and services and are now reaping the benefits that Gamification has blessed them with.

Financial activities such as banking are no joke and such operations are handled with utmost care. However, banks are willing to pursue fresh approaches and offer enjoyable experiences that can encourage people to spend more online. Financial businesses opt for Gamification to get access to powerful behavior-influencing tools that enhance customer engagement and motivate both customers and employees.

Gamification in the financial sector doesn’t mean turning a banking app into a kids’ game. It means making traditional operations more enjoyable by sweetening them up with game elements.

Gamification in the financial sector helps improve the following key areas: marketing, sales, talent management, and innovation.

For example, a bank can create a mobile app that, in the form of a Gamified challenge, can teach people how to safely perform online transactions or pay their taxes. The user gets points that he or she can later use as currency to receive a reward from their bank. These rewards can come in the form of cashback, a free upgrade, exclusive services, and more.

Gamification in the financial sector has massive potential as it introduces valuable benefits for customers and businesses alike. Some of them include:

• • Boosted web and mobile customer engagement – Gamification has the ability to encourage people to spend more time using an app and engage with the services.
  • Making banking processes easier to understand – in order to boost financial understanding, financial institutions need to make the learning process enjoyable. And that’s where Gamification shines.
  • Investment drive – when using Gamification, banks can motivate their customers to save more by, for example, linking credit card spending with prize-linked savings.
  • Increased visibility – customers who are happy with the services provided by a financial institution will likely recommend it to others. In addition, data that is received about existing customers can be instrumental in helping a business reach more people.
  • Precious data gathering – the behavioral insights from customers play a key role in the brainstorming process when working on new business improvement ideas.

Your Gamification approach must be helpful, clear, and enjoyable to your customers. This is the only way you can win their loyalty and increase the revenue of your financial business.

Gamification is one of the simplest yet enjoyable and powerful ways to encourage customers to save more, learn about proper financial practices, and many other things, depending on the industry. It is also a fail-proof way for bringing in new customers, strengthening the relationship with current ones, and trying new strategies against the competition.

In the next paragraphs, we’ll take a look at 5 tried and tested Gamification ideas you can integrate into your banking/financial app.

1. Give exciting rewards

Rewards are among the most potent techniques for online banking gamification and other financial apps, and they don’t need to be overly valuable to be appreciated. For example, your application can encourage and reward savings or commitment to online banking to avoid paper wastage. If, in turn, it rewards shopping at your business, the reward could come in the form of a gift voucher or something similar.

2. Take advantage of social media

Allowing people to share their experiences and progress on a social media platform of their choice can encourage a sense of community, interaction with other like-minded people, increased brand awareness, and more. And while social media platforms are usually open to everyone, activities could also take place in private in-app settings.

3. Don’t make winning too hard

The user shouldn’t be pushed into a frustratingly difficult gaming experience as they progress. Such an approach is sure to drive them away. To keep customers engaged and wanting to return, winning should be hard enough to keep them on their toes but also easy enough so they feel good enough to continue their journey toward the big rewards.

4. Keep track of the customer’s progress

No matter your end goals, it’s crucial to show people how far they’ve gotten and how much they have left to reach their journey’s destination/earn their reward. Progress bars, for example, serve as visual stimulants that keep people motivated and concentrated on the task at hand.

5. Don’t forget to test

Puzzles, catch and scratch, quizzes, and other games have been tried and tested successfully by many big and small businesses. If you aim to boost financial literacy in customers, doing different tests through engaging gamified methods will bring you valuable info while entertaining your customers. Also, never underestimate the power of rewards and badges – they can motivate people to both learn and have an engaging experience with your product or service.

PNC BANK

PNC Bank introduced a Virtual Wallet as a means to encourage customers to invest more in their savings. This Virtual Wallet is a mix between a checking and a savings account. One of its key features is Punch the Pig. This interactive widget is presented as a piggy bank on the person’s screen while interacting with the wallet – encouraging the customer to put money through it into a savings account.

ROBIN HOOD

Robinhood is a brokerage app that serves investors who want simple trading options without strings attached.

It helps customers easily make zero-commission orders on the stock exchange.

RobinHood gives customers a head start with real-time market data.

MONOBANK

Monobank is an online banking platform that uses different techniques to provide services to its customers in an enjoyable way. The bank makes spending financially rewarding by giving customers regular cashback. Another gamified feature of Monobank is the customer’s ability to make financial transactions to other cards by shaking their phones.

PAYPAL

Paypal is a leading digital financial services provider for personal, family, and business money management.

One of its various Gamification techniques is PaypalMe, which is a powerful tool that gives customers who are receiving money from friends and businesses a free and customizable landing page. It’s a great and simple option for freelancers to get paid.

STANDARD CHARTERED BANK

Another example of successful banking Gamification is Standard Chartered Bank’s Twist and Win feature. Twist and Win increases user engagement by allowing eligible customers to win cashback on their card transactions by twisting the layers of a digital gumball machine featured in the app. Thanks to this technique, the bank enjoyed an impressive rise in customers’ credit card spending.

COMMBANK

In 2011, CommBank released a property-simulator game called Investorville. The game allows people who are looking to buy a property to go through the whole process by trying different mortgage plans, and renovations, as well as dealing with property taxes. Investorville also shows customers what could potentially happen should they make the wrong financial investment decision.

BBVA

Digital bank BBVA’s Gamification technique (BBVA Games) looks like a regular game that motivates customers to use their online services. The bank has set up a virtual economy that rewards customers through a point system. BBVA even received an award for its Gamification and it won the trust of more than 100,000 people in just half a year. Through the game, customers could have the chance to win music tracks, movies, and tickets.

Gamification in Finance and Banking is not just about collecting points, rewards, or fun puzzles. The treasure lies in analytical data, client base growth, and elevated brand awareness. Businesses are pouring resources into Gamification for good reasons: to stay on top of customer needs, automate their systems, provide an immersive customer experience, drive loyalty and brand awareness, and stay one step ahead of the competition.

We, at Smartico, help fintech businesses Gamify their customer & employee experience with a revolutionary all-in-one suite like no other.

To learn more about how you can apply best practices of Gamification in the financial sector and how to start benefiting from it today, book a free in-depth demo at: https://smartico.ai/request-a-demo

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