Bankjoy and Zogo Finance are betting that helping credit unions and community banks educate their members rather than “sell” to them is the key to better engagement for CUs and better financial health for consumers.
In a strategy especially geared toward attracting Gen Z customers, Bankjoy and Zogo will offer credit unions a combined financial literacy program and online account opening solution. The combined technology enables new members to join in 90 seconds or less while improving their financial wellness. The partnership will enable credit unions to refashion their offers into educational opportunities rather than just sales pitches, and help the next generation as they grow from learning financial responsibility to taking financially responsible actions, like opening a savings account.
Zogo founder and CEO Bolun Li said that the partnership will enable users of his company’s platform to “take the next step and join a credit union.” Zogo Finance, which won Best of Show at its Finovate debut last fall, leverages behavioral finance – and real world rewards – to guide users of its technology through a series of 300+ educational micro-modules. These lessons, providing information on topics like using credit and successful savings, help users meet the national standards for financial literacy. Successful completion of a module grants the user points that can be redeemed as gift cards from leading brands.
For many fintechs, Gen Z represents an opportunity to market financial solutions based more on financial literacy and the balance between credit, consumption and savings, as opposed to debt-fighting strategies and longer-term family planning. As the median Millennial is moving into their thirties, the oldest Gen Zs are negotiating their teenage years and starting to develop the kind of financial habits that could stick with them well into adulthood.
GoMedici recently cited a RaveReviews study that indicated that the average Gen Z youth begins learning about financial planning at the age of 13. The study indicated that of its polled respondents, 60% of Gen Z had a savings account and 89% said that “planning for their financial future made them feel empowered.” The study added that it expects Gen Z to comprise as much as 40% of the consumer market as early as this year.
“Zogo is exactly the kind of value we have been looking for to add to our digital banking platform,” Bankjoy CEO Mike Duncan said. “Providing financial education to younger generations builds value on top of our digital banking ecosystem and delivers it through all our different channels to create a better member experience – especially for Gen Z.”
Zogo Finance finished 2019 with news that it had partnered with 11 community banks and credit unions in 12 different states. Founded in 2018, the company is headquartered in Durham, North Carolina.
Bankjoy also ended last year with new partners in the credit union community. An alum of FinovateFall from 2016, where the company demonstrated its API, Bankjoy announced in December that it was collaborating with three credit unions in Indiana and Texas that have a combined $500+ million in assets and 50,000+ members. Based in Royal Oak, Michigan, Bankjoy was founded in 2015.