©2010 D2DFund, Inc. Financial Entertainment 21 October, 2010 Panel 2: How Can Technology Contribute to FE? FEBRABAN Latin American Financial Education.

©2010 D2DFund, Inc.

Financial Entertainment21 October, 2010

Panel 2: How Can Technology Contribute to FE?

FEBRABAN Latin American Financial Education Congress

São Paulo, Brazil

Technology for Financial Education Innovation:

©2010 D2DFund, Inc.

Doorways to Dreams (D2D) Fund

Mission:expand access to financial services,

especially asset building opportunities, for working poor families by creating, testing and deploying innovative financial products & services

– Boston, Massachusetts based NGO– Founded in 2000 by Harvard Business School professor

Peter Tufano

– Focus on scale, sustainability, learning by doing

– Record of linking private sector capabilities to public / non-profit ideals

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D2D Supporters & Collaborators

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Financial Education Challenges

– Supply– Limited availability– Expensive to deliver

– Demand– Doesn’t “taste good” (not fun)– Consumers may not know they need it

– Impact– Does it work? (change behavior?)– Does impact last?

©2010 D2DFund, Inc.

Can Technology Help?

– Supply– Limited availability– Expensive to deliver

– Demand– Doesn’t “taste good” (not fun)– Consumers may not know they need it

– Impact– Does it work? (change behavior?)– Does impact last?

More available (24/7, mobile)

Lower cost (self-service)

???

???

©2010 D2DFund, Inc.

An Alternative Vision

– D2D’s vision is Financial Entertainment Taking cues from business and entertainment, we need to work with

and for consumers in the development of engaging, interactive new

media that teach them how to better manage their money.

– Financial Entertainment characteristics:– engaging vs. earnest– targeted vs. comprehensive– interactive vs. static– accessible vs. restricted

©2010 D2DFund, Inc.

Celebrity Calamity Trailer

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Financial Literacy Video Games

An example of financial entertainment: a library of casual video games, each teaching simple financial lessons:

+ Wise use of credit & debit cards

+ Basics of budgeting

+ Importance of saving

+ How to manage loans

+ Tips to avoid expensive pitfalls

©2010 D2DFund, Inc.

Why Casual Video Games?

+ Popular– 72% of Americans play video games*

– “Casual” games dominated by females

+ Accessible– Casual games can be learned quickly,

played for minutes or hours

– Play on mobile devices growing fast

+ Games teach as adults learn:– learn-by-doing (trial & error)

– Instant feedback

– Repetition

– Pride of accomplishment (puzzle solved!)

– Social element (share scores, Facebook)

* Source: NPD Group, August, 2008

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Our Games

Library of games+ 2 titles on financialentertainment.org

– Celebrity Calamity: Manage Credit & Debt

– Groove Nation: Dance Budget Game

+ 2 to be released in November– Bite Club: Vampire Retirement Savings

– Farm Blitz: Manage Resources to Build Savings

+ 5th title in early 2011

©2010 D2DFund, Inc.

D2D’s First Game

– Players become financial managers for spendthrift celebrities + Success requires effective use of bank account, debit & credit cards

– While focused on fun, explicit learning objectives include:+ Paying more than the minimum credit card payment

+ Minimizing credit card finance charges

+ Avoiding fees (bank overdraft, credit card late payment & over-limit)

+ Making good annual percentage rate (APR) choices.

– Additional implicit learning objectives include:+ raising awareness of spending behavior

+ the value of saving money.

©2010 D2DFund, Inc.

Testing Distribution

Challenge: how to reach millions?–Objectives

+ Test channels, partners, approaches to reach players

–How?+ Financial Entertainment

“portal” web site+ Tailored to partner

–Results + In six months:+ 60k+ players+ 7k web site registrants+ Avg. 22 mins. page view time

©2010 D2DFund, Inc.

Distribution Channels & Partners

– Channels & Partners+ Financial institutions (banks, credit unions, investment firms)+ Private Employers (retailers, hotels, fast food)+ Schools / Universities (example, US “community colleges”)+ Government: (example, Massachusetts state-wide tournament)+ NGOs (example, youth, job training, asset building programs)+ Military (example, tournament for troops & their families)

©2010 D2DFund, Inc.

Does it Work? Evaluation

– Evaluation is essential

+ D2D builds assessment into its product development process

+ Each game has learning objectives & behavior change goals

– Results

+ After development Celebrity Calamity was tested with smalls samples of low-income women across the US

+ 21-32% increases in financial skills self-confidence

+ 58-71% increases in knowledge

+ Qualitative: engagement, enthusiasm, empowerment

– Further work needed

©2010 D2DFund, Inc.

Preliminary Testing: Self-Confidence

Table 1: Self-Confidence (Pre and Post, % Change)

Rate your degree of confidence in the following: Pre Post %

Change bad spending habits 3.50 3.89 11%

Identify needs and wants separately. 4.02 4.30 7%

Avoid impulse and emotional spending. 3.23 3.93 22%

Pay off new charges on credit cards every month. 3.16 3.84 21%

Pay more than the minimum amount on credit card bills. 3.16 4.09 29%

Avoid late fees, over-limit fees, and overdraft fees. 3.23 4.05 25%

Save money regularly. 3.14 4.14 32%

Manage my finances. 3.57 4.09 15%

Perform assigned job-related tasks. 4.23 4.43 5%

Follow directions from my boss/supervisor. 4.66 4.61 -1%

©2010 D2DFund, Inc.

Preliminary Testing: Knowledge

Table 2: Knowledge (Pre and Post, % Change)

Knowledge Area: Pre Post %

Annual Percentage Rate (APR) 55% 86% 58%

Finance Charges 48% 82% 71%

Pay More Than the Minimum 82% 93% 14%

Interest Compounding 61% 64% 4%

©2010 D2DFund, Inc.

For More Information

Timothy Flacke

Doorways to Dreams (D2D) Fund

www.d2dfund.org

617.541.9066

[email protected]