We had started our discussion with the dominant trends that are exercising a lot of influence on the present-day marketing scenario and the sector that we have been considering is of course, banking and finance.
After throwing light on augmented reality and its importance, we are now here with the second trend that is, Gamification. Well, brace yourself because learning about gamification and its application and significance for the banking sector is going to be an interesting read, I am sure.
Since we have already been introduced to Gamification, which is practically everywhere, starting from the fitness centres to the addictive mobile apps, let’s directly delve into how it is making a gradual but impactful entry into the finance sector.
A research by the innovation team at BBVA suggests that about 53% of the gamers are in age group of 18 to 40. Interestingly, these people are actually the future of the finance industry too. This implies a direct market opportunity for the banking and financial organizations to promise enhanced customer engagement by leveraging the technology.
You know what is the best thing about Gamification that eventually makes it stand out among other such trends? Well, it is one technology that has the potential to forge an emotional connection, which is certainly beyond an intellectual understanding only.
Once Gamification makes it mark in the banking sector, it does not stay restricted to improving customer engagement alone. By exploiting the gaming psychology, banks and financial organizations can develop better products; build proactive marketing strategies and so on. As an example, Gamification can effectively turn the otherwise boring banking activities into something trendy, challenging and extremely impactful.
Let’s look into some of the instances where Gamification is crawling into the banking sector:
· The Commonwealth Bank of Australia has launched the app called Investorville and it empowers users to get insights from simulations of their behavior for buying real-estate properties.
· Barclays has also launched a social credit card and a community referred to as the ‘Barclaycard Ring’. In this, members get incentives from sharing suggestions and innovative ideas for credit card features.
· The Canada-based Sun-Life Financial, on the other hand, has its ‘Money Up’. It is an excellent use of the Gamification technology to educate and guide customers about retirement investment decisions. You need to pass levels in the game by demonstrating your financial knowledge. Isn’t that fantastic?
· The Rainbow Finance Group in Vietnam deployed a new app called the RAPL. The application is intended to help employees and resources learn about the product, processes and soft skills in an effective but fun and interactive way. The app further requires the user employees to complete the courses successfully and get badges as a sign of recognition. There is a leadership board that paves the way for some healthy competition among their peers too.
The Future of Gamification for the Banking Sector
Considering the positive effects that the technology has already had on the sector, the future is surely bright. Innovations are all around and banks are on the way of seeking continuous effective customer engagement in a never-before kind of interesting way. By developing Gamification based apps, financial organizations can facilitate seamless decision making for the customers. As a result, you can be more familiar with circumstantial evidence that helps you make reasonable decisions, right from your home.
Another area in which Gamification can work wonders is insurance, investments and tax saving decision making. Till date, most bank customers rely on a financial advisors to handle their investment portfolio and tax savings or just follow the conventional investing patterns. Now, once this area is gamified in the form of simulations, it will be capable of providing an approximate idea to customer about what to invest, where to invest and how to invest eventually.
Users of such prospective apps can also set goals and track their expected returns. They will simultaneously receive alerts and notifications about re-investments, premiums etc. Such a feature-heavy simulation app will definitely strike a huge advancement in the financial world and I am telling, the day is not far.
Challenges in Integrating Gamification in the Finance Sector
That being said, there is no denying that introducing Gamification in the sector will certainly have its share of challenges. The greatest obstacles are perhaps, design and layout. Plus, not every business will find it quite easy to adopt an effective Gamification tool as the design of the game is an important consideration here. Also, an organization will need to have a separate set of requirements along with a hierarchal structure to make the most of Gamification.
However, no technology has ever been possible without difficulties and Gamification won’t be an exception. But, it will definitely have an appreciable impact on the banking sector and entrepreneurs will gradually realize this. Some of the key players are already advancing at a very rapid pace and soon, there will be multiple interfaces, letting us design our insurance, investment and plan our tax saving in peer network, through simulations and so on.
Let’s keep our fingers crossed till then!