Service uses gaming to reward consumers for saving money

SaveUp is a free service that rewards consumers for their smart financial decisions.

It’s all too common to see rewards programs that encourage consumers to spend; far more rare are those that promote saving instead. Just last year we featured Piggymojo, which recruits the user’s friends and family to cheer them on toward their financial goals, and recently we came across a similar initiative called SaveUp, a free service that rewards consumers for their smart financial decisions. Just launched into beta, San Francisco-based SaveUp allows consumers who bank at any of more than 18,000 US financial institutions to earn credits for performing positive financial actions. For example, credits are awarded when a user contributes to their savings or retirement accounts; pays down their credit cards, mortgages or other loans; and engages with SaveUp’s financial education content on the site. Those credits, in turn, can be redeemed for chances to win instant prizes, or for entry into weekly and monthly draws. Underwritten by SaveUp’s sponsors and bank partners, prizes range from retail gift cards and consumer electronics, to luxury vacations, college tuition and even a USD 2 million jackpot. The video below explains SaveUp in more detail: Consumer debt in the US alone is more than USD 2.4 trillion, according the US Federal Reserve. Could gaming prove the solution to help get rid of some of that? Spotted by: Alice Revel