Why financial firms must bring their ‘A’ game to online education

Firms such as Visa Canada are applying basic gamification techniques to financial literacy education, but most have a long way to go before they score big.

Earlier this month, for example, the credit card firm rolled out the latest version of Financial Soccer, a website using an online soccer game to teach people financial literacy, and then test them on it. Players successfully answer questions to pass the ball in the FIFA-themed contest. The Canadian edition features updated questions and is available in both English and French.

Money management and financial product information can be overwhelming, says Carla Hindman, director of financial education for Visa Canada. “So it’s about bringing it to people in a way that’s fun and engaging, and to start the conversation.”

Others are doing similar things. The Investor Education Fund (IEF) runs Cranial Cash Clash, a game that tests financial knowledge. Like Visa’s, there is a leaderboard so that people can share their scores, motivating them to play. And in September, it launched ‘Dollar Decisions’, a scenario game aimed at teens trying to save.

One of the benefits of gamification is that it produces lots of data, which organizations can use to help hone their messaging. “This is a research tool for us,” says Perry Quinton, marketing VP at the IEF. Cranial Cash Clash was produced using questions from the organization’s financial literacy survey.

“We know from that what areas people are weak in and need different information in,” she says. “We can aggregate it and use it to direct our resources.”

The banks are also playing with gamification to encourage financial literacy. ING Direct offers Lil’ Savers Moneyland, an online resource for children, featuring games to teach budgeting. Mark Nicholson, head of digital, creative and communications there, says that a separate piggy bank connects to the app digitally, and uses coin reader technology to track a child’s savings in the account.

For younger kids, a generation that is hyper-connected digitally, platforms like Lil’ Savers puts money and other aspects of financial matters in a context and format they understand and are comfortable with, he says.

RBC offers an iPad app, Learning Money with Leo, which teaches money concepts to 3-6 year-olds. And its Daily Advice Game on Facebook targets adults with video content, inviting them to submit the best answer.

“Using elements of gamification can help deepen engagement in educational content, help convey complex concepts in easy-to-grasp ways, and encourage ongoing participation and dialog in financial literacy content,” an RBC spokesperson said.

Perhaps. But gamification in financial literacy is still rudimentary, complains gamification consultant Gabe Zichermann, who organizes the GSummit gamification conference.

“The weakness is the idea that knowledge is a key differentiator,” he says, arguing that simply turning a school curriculum or survey into a game won’t cut it. “Sometimes, knowledge is very divorced from action.”

In this sense, financial literacy is similar to health care, he says; people often don’t make short-term sacrifices (such as saving, or giving up smoking) because the benefits are long-term, and the incentives aren’t high enough to offset short-term pleasures.

“So, some [financial institutions] have spent lots of money building financial literacy games that have no effect,” Zichermann says. Instead, they must put long-term resources behind behavioural change, Zichermann says.

That’s a far more sophisticated kind of product. It would be personalized, and would probably draw heavily on mobile apps and big data. But it would provide feedback and coaching that would affect user actions, he argues. It’s a world away from random questions about the definition of compound interest, and rewards badges.

Zichermann cites Nike Plus and Fitbit, tools that track your activities all the time, give you positive reinforcement around your fitness goals, and advising you on what’s needed next. “Someone needs to make the FitBit for finance.”