We’re in the middle of a health crisis.
A financial health crisis.
Before the pandemic was even a thing, people were struggling with their finances.
Just take a look at these numbers 👇
Now, that struggle has only intensified.
I’m not bringing this up because I want to be a downer. I’m bringing it up because it’s one of your customer’s biggest pain points.
It has been for some time. It’s also one you can probably relate to.
After all, how many of us have been kept up at night because of money worries?
🙋♂️
There’s also a massive opportunity here. Clearly, there’s a need for wealth management as a service. And this is a space where financial institutions can make serious improvements on what they’re already offering.
It’s also a way for them to differentiate themselves in the marketplace.
There are already a number of financial institutions making inroads here. We’ll take a look at just three of them below.
The top 3 financial wellness programs (in no particular order)
Before we take a look at these examples, a little clarification is in order.
When I say “financial wellness programs” I’m not referring to personal finance managers (PFMs).
Yes, I know…
PFMs are meant to help people manage their finances. In some cases, they definitely do that.
But they put the onus on the user to do all the heavy lifting, from inputting their financial information to managing their finances on the regular. If a user doesn’t already do this (without a PFM), then a PFM is unlikely to change their behavior.
So, when I say “financial wellness programs” what I’m referring to are initiatives certain institutions have launched to proactively help consumers get a grip on their finances. These can include personalized recommendations, goal setting, alerts, educational content, and more.
Okay, now that I’ve cleared that up, let’s get started.
1) Discovery Bank: Vitality Money
Discovery Bank bills itself as the world’s first behavioral bank. The bank’s Vitality Program rewards customers for living well, driving well, and banking well via their mobile app.
For the purposes of this article, we’re going to focus on that last one, AKA Vitality Money.
The concept is pretty simple.
When people make good financial decisions, they get rewarded. It’s gamification, but for banking.
First, Discovery Bank conducts a Vitality Money Assessment, where they look at how a user manages five controllable financial behaviors:
- Spending less than they earn
- Saving regularly
- Paying off debt
- Long-term investing
- Making sure they’re protected against insurable events
Using data points from their assessment, they calculate a user’s Vitality Money Status, or financial wellness. This identifies areas a user should focus on to improve their financial health.
Finally, they incentivize the right behaviors using rewards like dynamic interest rates and discount offers.
2) Fifth Third: Dobot
Fifth Third’s Dobot is the lightest offering on this list.
That said, it’s a great tool. It’s extremely easy to use. And, it’s a solid example of a bank being extremely proactive.
Plus, it’s free, which is just brilliant marketing. Check out their app store listing and you’ll see what I mean.
Consumers set their financial goals, and the app does the rest with automated savings. It also provides tips and a gamified experience to keep users engaged.
3) TD Bank Group: TD for Me
Full transparency: TD Bank Group is one of Flybits’ customers.
But that’s not why I’m including them here.
To be clear, TD wins customer experience and satisfaction awards every year. So, putting the customer at the heart of everything they do is in their DNA. And they understand the important role they can play in improving their customers’ financial wellness.
TD for Me is a big part of that.
It’s a dynamic feed in the TD app that leverages contextual triggers, like a customer’s age, spending behaviors, location, etc. to provide relevant advice, promotions, and products.
The content they deliver is engineered around four key objectives.
- Education: Helping customers improve financial literacy in key moments. For instance, deploying resources that educate a recent grad on how to build savings.
- Money management: Enabling customers to budget and save. As an example, notifying an individual when they’ve saved enough points to redeem an offer or pay off bills.
- Support: Providing customers with products and services that help them achieve their goals. If a customer is routinely exceeding a transaction limit on their debit card and taking a hit, recommend a credit card product to help ease the burden.
- Alerts: Notifying customers about upcoming account activity, like giving them a polite nudge when a payment is due.
TD puts a special emphasis on transparency, open communications, and personalized engagements to make sure customers are on the right path to financial wellness.
Your customers want financial wellness, whether you build new products to fill this need or add features to your existing products.
So, what are you waiting for?
