Emma Simon

Could the technology behind Pokémon Go! help encourage more of us to save for our retirement?

It might seem far-fetched, but in recent years a couple of financial companies have started hiring from the gaming industry in an attempt to make their products more appealing to consumers.

Let’s face it, most of us find pensions, savings and investments dull and confusing. Could more engaging money management apps, or elements of ‘gamification’ help to overcome these difficulties?

The theory is that if people take more interest in their finances, they’ll be encouraged to save more. So perhaps an app where users have to make a million from a fantasy portfolio could help plug the savings gap. Like Pokémon, this could marry real-world data – up-to-date share prices, for example – with a virtual pot of money.

You might think that a financial app is unlikely to be particularly addictive or fun. But let’s not forget that millions of people have downloaded games where they match sweets or keep an eye on a virtual farm.

There are other ways that smart technology could help nudge us into making better financial decisions. One problem the savings industry faces is ‘delayed gratification’. In other words, we don’t get any immediate benefit from squirrelling away our hard-earned cash away.

It’s true there are bigger rewards further down the line: the chance to dine on foie gras rather than tinned spam in retirement, for example. But most of us struggle to prioritise these longer-term benefits over more immediate demands on our money.

The pension and savings industry could learn a trick from those promoting exercise and keep fit applications (another area where good intentions don’t always match day-to-day realities).

Walk 10,000 steps each day and your phone or fitness monitor will buzz to let you know how well you’ve done. This might seem like a pretty feeble ‘reward’.

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