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Somebody is going to walk an extra lap around the block tonight because the ring on their watch isn't closed. Nobody is paying them to do it.
That is gamification, and it is the most reliable behavior change tool built in the last 20 years. It also runs on a number somebody invented. 10,000 steps was never a medical standard. It was the name of a pedometer sold in 1965, and no study sat behind it. Jim Marous opens this Banking Insights episode by explaining what the mechanic really does, and that most banks and credit unions have never put a progress bar in front of a customer at all.
Applied well, it moves the numbers that decide a relationship. Swaystack reports a 24% increase in meaningful first-month funding across the institutions using it, with Peak Credit Union live in 81 days and Think Bank in 90, both on digital banking platforms they already ran. The step customers stall on most often is the direct deposit switch, which also decides primacy, and Cornerstone Advisors finds institutions lose 3.36 digital applications for every one they complete.
The episode then argues the mechanic should not stop when onboarding does. It covers the CFPB finding that the most popular savings rule was not the one associated with the most saved, the field experiment showing that crediting progress already nearly doubles completion, and Fifth Third's Life360, the planning platform that already answers the question everyone else's progress bar cannot.
About: Banking Transformed is hosted by Jim Marous, a top five banking industry influencer and Co-Publisher of The Financial Brand. Banking Insights episodes deliver the most important strategic ideas in under ten minutes, for the executive who wants the takeaway without the deep dive. Subscribe to the Digital Banking Report at digitalbankingreport.com.
