By Ray Birch
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.—Could the Pokemon Go craze someday lead to credit unions using gamification to help members better manage their finances?
One analyst thinks so, emphasizing that augmented reality—the concept behind Pokemon Go—could be what elevates CU financial education efforts and finally gets a lot of members making better financial decisions.
Brian Scott, senior vice president of business alliances at PSCU, emphasized that an augmented reality game, based on the impact Pokemon Go has had, is certainly worth the attention of credit unions. Pokemon Go is the top free and top grossing app on both Apple's App Store and Google Play. It's topped more than 20 million downloads worldwide.
“Obviously, Pokemon Go has a lot of people talking,” said Scott. “And what should have a lot of credit unions talking is not the augmented reality piece of this game, not the technology piece, but the game piece. The concept of gamification—how you turn a seemingly everyday activity into a game that gets people engaged in doing things differently.”
Off The Couch
Pokemon Go players have commented that the game is getting them off their couches and out of the house.
“They say the game gets them moving, which is positive,” said Scott, who acknowledged that the game has placed some at risk when they chase down a monster and don’t pay attention to their real-world surroundings. “So Pokemon Go is helping people improve their physical activity.”
Scott said that is where he thinks the play is in financial services.
Brian Scott, PSCU
“How do you create a Pokemon-like game around saving effectively or making loan payments on time, managing your financial life to your ultimate benefit?” said Scott. “The point is, people who need to exercise are told all the time they need to get up and get moving, but many tend not to listen, despite the fact they know exercise is important to them. But Pokemon Go is getting them over that hurdle now. The game to these players is first, the physical actively is secondary—a byproduct, but a good one.”
Scott reiterated that an augmented reality app could fit well with financial education.
“Imagine a game—where you earn points, collect badges or gain some kind of status—that helps you increase your credit score?” said Scott. “While the rewards are the main objective of the players, by playing the game they did things that boosted their credit score. For example, maybe the game gets you to always make your loan payment on time. Maybe the game teaches you to use your credit card more often and pay it off on certain schedules to increase your credit score. There are very specific ways to increase your credit score by using your credit card. The game could teach those.”
Scott believes that an augmented reality app might someday turn a member’s kitchen into a credit union branch.
“You can go to the mortgage loan desk in the augmented reality credit union even though you are right in your home,” said Scott. “You can go to the loan desk and actually make a payment, or maybe refinance since the game just taught you rates dropped and you can save $300 a month. Or stop by the teller counter and deposit money into your IRA. In doing these things you collect some type of reward, just like people capture Pokemon monsters.”
Good For Cards
Scott sees an augmented reality game working well with credit cards.
“Imagine you are in Target and want to buy a pair of shoes,” said Scott. “You fire up your augmented reality app that’s tied to your credit card and it tells that you don’t have the money to buy the shoes now and that if you do make the purchase, you will lose points in the game.”
Scott thinks the “silver bullet” from the Pokemon Go craze is that the game has shown there is a way to make financial education more effective and get people “off the couch” to improve their financial lives.
“Credit unions give their members a lot of good financial advice, but how many people really act on it?” said Scott.