Brazil’s Nubank launches Nunos, to offer rewards through gamification
Gamification in digital banking has been discussed for a long time, and some players (such as Brazilian bank Inter) have already been experimenting on this front. However, when a giant like Nubank decides to make its move, everyone pays attention. The company recently announced Nunos, a customer relationship and rewards program with gamification.
As the bank highlighted in a statement, Nunos is a free program that offers rewards to customers linked to their financial journey. The digital bank is currently testing the tool with a small portion of users – among them NuCommunity members – and expects to launch it to its entire base in 2023. Until then, Nubank will have feedback rounds with the users testing the beta version, improving the program according to users’ opinions.
According to neobank, the idea is for the customer to go through a journey of different missions linked to the company’s products to unlock rewards. The first missions available in the app include simple actions, such as using a credit or debit card, paying a bill, or depositing money into their Nubank account.
“For every two missions completed in a month, the user unlocks a treasure chest with a surprise prize. By completing six missions within a month, the user can open a new treasure chest with an even more exclusive reward.
Some of the initial rewards that will be available are promo codes for the delivery app iFood, Nubank bottles with exclusive illustrations, cashback at Nubank Celular Seguro, and promo codes for shopping at e-commerce platform Shopee, among others.
According to Nubank’s co-founder Cristina Junqueira, the plan with Nunos is to deliver a program focused not only on awards but also on financial education. “The purpose is to have a program that goes beyond rewards, but that helps our customers progress in their financial journeys, celebrating small achievements,” said Junqueira in a press statement.
Gamification trends
With a high number of adults who once had a video game joystick in their hands (and probably still play video games to this day), gamification has become a powerful ally to increase user retention. According to a P&S Market Research, the gamification industry will earn more than $22 billion by the end of 2022.
The trend is no different in the fintechs segment. Big players have already been using this strategy – an example is the crypto exchange Robinhood, which gives prizes to users according to their activity on the platform.
Before being acquired by Nubank, investment platform Easynvest was also starting a project using gamification. Titled “Monster of Investments”, the game created a monster with seven heads, one for each psychological barrier to investment success – from savings addiction to risk aversion. After the merger, the platform became Nu Invest, and the pilot was discontinued.
As for other digital banks testing the trend, many are placing their bets on gamification aimed at specific audiences, such as kids or gamer accounts. That is the case with Inter with its kids account; Yours Bank, focused on users under 18 years old, which recently raised $1 million led by Banco do Brasil’s corporate venture division; and Itaú, which created a digital bank dedicated to gamers.
(translation by Gabriela Del Carmen)
Leandro Miguel Souza é jornalista especializado na área de TI, cobrindo pautas de tecnologia, negócios e inovação há mais de 10 anos, em passagens por diversos veículos do segmento, como Baguete Diário, Canaltech e Manual do Usuário. Um apaixonado por formas inusitadas e (por quê não?) inovadoras de criar conteúdos, contando com uma pós-graduação em Jornalismo Multimídias.