Few people wake up excited about their pension, their home insurance or their mortgage. Banking and insurance are important, but they are low-interest categories: customers think about them rarely, usually only when something goes wrong or a renewal letter arrives. That is exactly why gamification in insurance and banking can be so effective. A short quiz or a well-designed game gives people a reason to engage with topics they would otherwise ignore, and gives you qualified leads and useful insight along the way.
In this guide we look at why low-engagement categories benefit from interactive marketing, how financial literacy quizzes and lead qualification work, what to discuss with your compliance team, how to reach younger customers, and which KPIs to follow.
Why gamification in insurance and banking works
Banks and insurers have a lot in common with energy and telecom companies. Their products are essential, often look similar from one provider to the next, and most customer contact is transactional: statements, renewals, claims and service messages.
That creates a few familiar problems:
- Low attention. A newsletter about savings rates or policy terms competes with everything else in the inbox, and usually loses.
- Complex products. Customers do not always understand what they have, what they need or what the difference is between two options.
- Few natural touchpoints. If customers only hear from you once a year at renewal, it is hard to build a relationship.
- Expensive, cold leads. Advisers spend time on people who are not ready, or not a good fit.
Interactive campaigns change the starting point. Instead of asking people to read, you ask them to take part. A quiz about money habits or a "how protected are you?" check is something people choose to do, and the answers tell you where they stand.
Financial literacy quizzes
Financial literacy is a natural topic for banks and insurers, and a quiz is the easiest way to make it engaging. People learn something, you show your expertise and you can collect sign-ups at the same time.
Quiz ideas for banks
- "How well do you know your money?" Five to eight questions about budgeting, interest and saving, with the right answers explained at the end.
- Myth or fact: mortgages. Help first-time buyers separate myths from facts about buying a home.
- "What kind of saver are you?" A personality test with results such as "The planner", "The spontaneous one" and "The cautious type", each with tips and relevant content.
- Pension check. A few simple questions that help people see whether they are on track, and invite them to talk to an adviser.
Quiz ideas for insurers
- "How protected is your home?" A quiz by result that points out common gaps in cover, in plain language.
- Safety quizzes. Fire safety at Christmas, travel safety before the summer, or bike theft in the autumn. Useful content with a natural link to your products.
- "Which cover fits your life?" A guided quiz that asks about home, family, travel and hobbies, and recommends relevant products.
Keep it simple and helpful
Ask about people's lives, not about product terms. "Do you have children living at home?" is easier to answer than "Which family cover do you need?" Five to eight questions is plenty, and the result should give people something useful: a tip, a checklist or a clear next step.
Lead qualification for advisers
The real strength of a quiz in financial services is not the number of leads. It is the quality. The answers people give tell your advisers who is ready for a conversation and what that conversation should be about.
How it works
- Ask questions that reveal needs. For example: current situation, plans for the next year and what they are unsure about.
- Use the answers to route people. In a quiz by result, different answers lead to different result pages. People with clear needs can be invited to book a meeting. People who are just curious get helpful content and a newsletter invitation.
- Send the answers to your CRM. With a native integration, Zapier, webhooks or the API, advisers can see the answers before the first call.
- Follow up based on what people told you. Someone planning to buy a home in a year needs different content from someone reviewing their pension.
Example: Dansk Boligvurdering's mortgage quiz
Dansk Boligvurdering helps homeowners with home assessments and advisory meetings, working with real estate agents and impartial financial advisers across Denmark. Its mortgage assessment campaign uses a quiz that asks participants about their current mortgage, financial history and future plans. Based on the answers, participants are invited to book a meeting with a financial adviser.
The mortgage quiz is one of its top campaigns, with a conversion rate of over 70%. Across around 30 always-on campaigns, Dansk Boligvurdering has engaged more than 20,000 participants, and its communication manager describes the leads as generally "warmer" and more likely to convert than leads from other methods. Read the full story: mastering lead generation with Dansk Boligvurdering.
Compliance considerations
Financial services are highly regulated, and marketing is no exception. A game does not change the rules; it just gives you a new way to communicate. Rules on marketing, incentives, competitions and data differ between countries and products and change over time, so involve your compliance and legal teams early. Here are some topics to discuss with them.
Clear and balanced marketing
Financial products often come with sector-specific rules for marketing communications. At EU level, you can read more about insurance distribution on EIOPA's website. Practical points to discuss:
- Make sure quiz questions and result texts are accurate and balanced.
- Do not let a fun result page turn into advice. Where personal advice is needed, invite people to talk to an adviser.
- Let compliance review the texts before launch, just as with any other campaign.
Be careful with prizes
Think carefully before linking a prize to taking out a financial product. Depending on your market and product, there may be rules on incentives and on competitions, so check with your compliance team before you decide on prizes.
Consent and personal data
Data protection and marketing rules, such as the GDPR, affect how you collect and use personal data and marketing consent. If you use a competition to collect marketing consent, be clear about what people are agreeing to, and check the current rules in each market. In Denmark, the Consumer Ombudsman publishes guidance on forbrugerombudsmanden.dk.
Good practice in your campaigns:
- Only ask for the data you actually need.
- Make the newsletter or marketing permission a separate, clear choice.
- Consider double opt-in to make sure the email address is real.
- Decide in advance how long you keep the data, and delete it when you no longer need it.
Security and data handling
When you use a campaign platform, the provider handles participant data on your behalf, so check how it handles security and agree the roles in a data processing agreement. Scratcher is certified to ISO/IEC 27001:2022, processes data under a data processing agreement and hosts data in the EU, and you decide what you collect and when it is deleted. User roles and two-factor login help you control who on your team can access what. These are tools that help; you remain responsible for your own campaigns. Read more on our security page.
This article is general information, not legal advice. Rules differ between countries and change over time, so check the current rules and get legal advice before you launch a campaign.
Reaching young customers
Many banks and insurers know that their customer base is getting older. Winning the next generation is a strategic priority, and young people expect brands to communicate in a more engaging way.
Ideas for younger audiences
- First-job and first-flat quizzes. "Are you ready for your first flat?" with tips on budgets, deposits and contents insurance.
- Student campaigns. A start-of-term campaign with practical prizes such as gadgets, food vouchers or travel cards.
- Personality tests that people share. A "money personality" result is something young people are happy to show their friends.
- Short, mobile-first games on social media, rather than long landing pages.
Respect age limits
Products and marketing for young people come with extra responsibility. Check with your legal and compliance teams which age limits apply to your campaign. If you set one, add a date-of-birth field with a minimum age, so only people above your age limit can take part. Keep the language honest and avoid pressure.
KPIs for financial services
Choose your KPIs before launch, and make sure they match your goal.
- Participation rate: the share of visitors who start the quiz
- Completion rate: the share who finish it
- New marketing permissions
- Meeting bookings or adviser leads from the campaign
- Lead-to-customer conversion, compared with other lead sources
- Cost per qualified lead
- Insight collected: for example, the share of participants planning a home purchase or reviewing their pension
The most important comparison is usually lead quality. If quiz leads convert better or need less time from advisers, that is where the business value is. Our page on lead generation has more on collecting quality sign-ups.
Make the boring brilliant
Banking and insurance will never be impulse purchases, but they do not have to be boring. A short quiz that helps people understand their money or their cover gives them real value, and gives you better leads and a reason to stay in touch.
Want to see how it works? Start a free 14-day trial, or book a meeting to talk about a campaign for your bank or insurance company.
