When asked the question "What industries do you think gamification would be most impactful?" Many people would not answer the banking industry first. Instead, responding with the human resources department of an organisation or perhaps a marketing firm hoping to engage customers in a unique way.
The banking industry is constantly looking at business innovation and in particular, one bank is changing the way people view investing. The Commonwealth Bank of Australia has been proactive with the application of the concept gamification. In 2011 Commonwealth Bank released ***Investorville***which was a virtual world that gamified a property investment simulation; all based on actual property data. Investment can be daunting, but by gamifying the process the players could experience investing in rental properties with none of the risks associated with using personal finances to buy property. The success of this gamified process was in the way The Commonwealth Bank of Australia was able to break down misconceptions and demonstrate how practical property investment can be not just for those from a financial background.
Looking at the results it is clear to see this was a successful experiment with 613 actual loans tracked directly as a result of having played Investorville. That figure translates to approximately 413% ROI (a conservative figure). While the online simulation is no longer available the evidence of the simulation's success is evidence that the processes applied can still be very much valid.
Gamification, when executed correctly, does more than just change the perception of a task or process. It has the potential to increase employee engagement and reduce turnover. There is the opportunity to build a powerful business tool. One that not just motivates ongoing engagement but provide business insights, return on investment and scalability for a firm. A survey conducted by TalentLMS, indicated that 62% of the participants would be motivated to learn if leaderboards were involved and they had the opportunity to compete with other co-workers. 89% of those surveyed stated that a point system would boost their engagement. Working Mouse understands both why gamification is important and how to implement it into business activities. In terms of looking to the future, gamification will play an integral part in increasing engagement not just in consumers but employees as well.
