Physical security is a vital aspect of any bank’s operations, as it protects the assets, employees, and customers from various threats. However, traditional physical security methods (i.e., cameras, alarms, and guards) aren’t enough to prevent or deter sophisticated attacks, especially those involving human factors, such as social engineering, phishing, or insider threats. For example, data of more than 1.5 million customers of Flagstar Bank was breached in 2022. Therefore, banks need to enhance their physical security awareness and culture by using innovative and engaging methods.
Gamification is one of these measures. It uses game elements and game thinking to improve the security awareness of bank employees and customers. The global gamification market stood at $10 bln in 2022 and is expected to reach $116.68 bln by 2032.
Digital Banking Gamification Benefits
Let’s see how gamification can benefit banks:
- Increase customer engagement, loyalty, and retention
KPMG found that 61% of customers would like banks to use more innovative ways to reward loyal clients. Gamification can make banking more fun, rewarding, and personalized, which can motivate customers to use the banking app more frequently, explore new features and products, and recommend the bank to others.
- Improve financial literacy, behavior, and well-being
A lack of personal finance knowledge cost $352 bln in 2021, according to the National Financial Educators Council. On average, it’s about $1,400 per person. Gamification can educate customers about financial concepts, products, and risks, and help them set and achieve their financial goals, such as saving, budgeting, investing, and paying off debts.
- Boost employee performance, satisfaction, and retention
According to a report by EBF, the satisfaction of bank employees in Europe was affected by the incidents against bank infrastructure and staff, such as robberies, attacks, and threats. Gamification can train and motivate them to follow the best practices and protocols for banking, such as checking IDs, locking doors, and reporting suspicious activities. It can also provide feedback, recognition, and rewards to employees for their work.
In addition to these benefits, gamification can enhance both physical and cybersecurity for the banks by:
- Raising awareness and compliance among customers and employees
Gamification can inform and remind customers and employees about the importance and benefits of physical and cybersecurity, such as using strong passwords, protecting their cards and PINs, and avoiding phishing scams. By the way, phishing scams were the most common attacks in the last 12 months in Great Britain.
- Testing and improving the security systems and devices
Gamification can simulate and challenge security systems and devices, such as cameras, alarms, locks, and sensors, to assess and enhance their effectiveness and reliability.
- Detecting and preventing security breaches and incidents
Gamification solutions can monitor and analyze the behavior and activity of customers and employees and alert and respond to any anomalies or threats.
So, gamification in banking is a promising strategy to improve customer engagement, loyalty, and education, as well as enhance security. However, implementing this measure in digital banking also poses some challenges and requires some best practices. Let’s look at them in detail.
Digital Banking Gamification Challenges
If you want your gamification strategy to succeed, we’d recommend you to take the following steps:
- Choose the right game mechanics and rewards that align with the bank’s goals and customers’ needs
Gamification should not be a one-size-fits-all solution but rather a tailored and personalized approach that considers the bank’s value proposition, target market, and customer segments. Different game mechanics, such as points, badges, leaderboards, challenges, quizzes, etc., may have different effects on customer motivation, behavior, and satisfaction.
Similarly, different rewards, such as cash, discounts, prizes, recognition, etc., may have different appeal and value for different customers. Banks should carefully select and design the game mechanics and rewards that best suit their objectives and customers’ preferences and test and optimize them accordingly.
- Balance the fun and educational aspects of gamification and avoid overuse or misuse of game elements
Gamification should not only make banking more fun but also more meaningful and beneficial for customers. It should aim to educate customers about financial concepts, products, and risks and help them achieve their financial goals, such as saving, budgeting, investing, and paying off debts. Gamification should also avoid overusing or misusing game elements, such as making the game too easy, too hard, too complex, too intrusive, or too manipulative, which may cause customer frustration, boredom, confusion, annoyance, or distrust. You should balance the fun and educational aspects of gamification, and ensure that the game elements are relevant, appropriate, and respectful for customers.
- Integrate gamification with the bank’s existing security systems and policies and ensure compliance with regulations and standards
Gamification should not compromise the security and privacy of the bank and its customers. It should be compatible and integrated with the bank’s existing security systems and policies, such as encryption, authentication, authorization, audit, and backup. Gamification should comply with the relevant regulations and standards, such as GDPR, PCI DSS, ISO 27001, etc., that govern the collection, processing, storage, and transmission of customer data and transactions. You should ensure that gamification follows the best practices and guidelines for security and privacy, and consult with the legal and regulatory authorities if necessary.
- Measure and evaluate the effectiveness and impact of gamification on customer behavior and satisfaction
Gamification should not be a one-time or static initiative but rather a continuous and dynamic process that requires constant monitoring and evaluation. It should measure and evaluate the effectiveness and impact of gamification on customer behavior and satisfaction, such as customer engagement, loyalty, retention, acquisition, education, financial literacy, behavior, and well-being. Gamification should also collect and analyze customer feedback and data and use them to improve and optimize the gamification strategy and design. You should establish and use appropriate metrics and tools to measure and evaluate gamification and adopt a data-driven and customer-centric approach to gamification.
How You Can Apply Security Gamification Scenarios to Your Banking App
Now, let’s see how you can use gamification in digital banking, including physical security options:
- A savings challenge that rewards customers for saving a certain amount of money within a specific period of time. Customers can track their progress, compare their performance with others, and unlock badges and prizes. For example, PNC Bank offered customers the Virtual Wallet aimed to help them monitor their expenses.
By dividing funds between accounts for reserved or spendable budgets, customers can more easily manage their finances. The gamified element of the Virtual Wallet is the Punch The Pig feature, which allows users to “punch” the piggy bank whenever it appears to add a pre-selected amount of money to their savings account.
- A budgeting quiz that tests customers’ knowledge and skills in managing their finances. Customers can answer multiple-choice questions, receive feedback and tips, and earn points and rewards. For example, the BBVA game from a Spanish bank uses gamification to educate customers about online banking and security.
- A security game that teaches customers and employees how to protect themselves and their accounts from cyberattacks. Customers and employees can learn how to identify and avoid phishing emails, create and remember strong passwords, and use two-factor authentication.
- A security puzzle that challenges customers and employees to solve a series of clues and tasks related to physical security. Customers and employees can use their cameras, GPS, and sensors to scan QR codes, find locations, and unlock doors.
Final Words
Physical security gamification for banks is a concept that involves using game-like elements and principles to enhance the physical security of banks and their customers. It can help banks to prevent or reduce the risks of theft, fraud, vandalism, or cyberattacks and to improve their reputation, customer loyalty, employee satisfaction, and regulatory compliance.
At the same time, implementing physical security gamification in digital banking poses some challenges and requires some best practices. You should choose the right game mechanics and rewards depending on your target audience. Since we’re talking about a banking app, balance the fun and educational aspects. Your gamification scenarios should be integrated with the existing security systems and policies. Finally, check how your gamification strategy effective is.
In this article, we’ve discussed the concept and benefits of physical security gamification for banks and provided some examples of gamification scenarios that can be applied to banking apps. We’ve summarized the main challenges and best practices of implementing physical security gamification in digital banking and provided some recommendations for banks that want to adopt gamification in their physical security strategies.
We hope this article helps you understand the potential and value of physical security gamification for banks and inspires you to explore and experiment with this innovative and engaging approach. If you want to learn more about physical security gamification for banks, don’t hesitate to ask our team. The Elinext experts have vast experience in developing various banking solutions.
Do you love playing games? What if you could play a game while banking and learn how to protect your account from hackers and thieves? Read our article on physical security gamification for banks and find out how it works.
How can you make banking more fun and secure? Using physical security gamification for banks, a concept that uses game-like elements to enhance the physical security of banks and their customers. In our article, we explain the benefits and challenges of this approach and provide some examples of how to use it.
Physical security gamification for banks is a new and innovative way to improve the banking experience and security for both customers and employees. It involves using quizzes, challenges, puzzles, and rewards to educate, motivate, and reward customers and employees for following the best practices and protocols for physical security. Want to know more? Check out our article.
What if banking could be more like a game? That’s the idea behind physical security gamification for banks, a concept that uses game-like elements and principles to enhance the physical security of banks and their customers. By using physical security gamification for banks, you can make banking more fun, engaging, and beneficial for yourself and your bank. Read our article to learn more.
Imagine if you could play a game while banking, and learn how to protect yourself and your account from physical and cyber threats. That’s possible with physical security gamification that helps banks improve their reputation, customer loyalty, employee satisfaction, and regulatory compliance. In our article, we explore the potential and value of physical security gamification for banks and inspire you to explore and experiment with this innovative and engaging approach.
