Tier-based Rewards

Intro- Tiered Rewards Programs

What are tiers?-

A tiered rewards program is a type of rewards program that offers different benefits to customers depending on their rank within that program, based on certain metrics. (Kecsmar)

How do they work?-

Tiered reward programs encourage long-term customer engagement by increasing customer benefits based on customer engagement or spending levels. (Grochowska) Customers ranking can be based on customer engagement with special products or customers’ cumulative spending passing set thresholds. (Kecsmar) Ranking up in a rewards program can even be its own product like with the case of exclusive rewards tiers for status-driven customers.

What is the benefit of tiered rewards?-

Tiered rewards programs lead to more efficient customer segmentation and a greater increase to ROI than programs without tiers. Using a tiered system of rewards, customers will be naturally segmented into different groups whether by their spending level or their interest in signing up for a paid rewards level for exclusive benefits. This segmentation can ease research into customer interests and behaviors to improve future targeted offers. (Donlan) According to research done by Antavo in Q4 2021, out of their 116 respondents that had a rewards program, programs with tiers experienced an average ROI 80% higher than programs without. (KECSMAR) This strongly indicates that rewards tiers boost engagement.

Current Design

What is the current design?-

All customers have access to rewards. Value is emphasized by keeping Rewards Balance and All-Time balance prominent and near the top of the screen. Rewards History can be viewed from a button placed close to where the All-Time balance is displayed. Goals are displayed in an endless scroll list starting from the middle of the page.

What is the user flow of the current design?-

In the current rewards designs there are many flows:

Users can cash out their rewards balance at any time: upon first opening their Rewards Dashboard or immediately after earning cashback by completing a Rewards Goal. This clearly displays value and gives users a measure of control over their reward.

Goals are presented to users in an endless scroll list that is controlled and managed by the Marketing team. This should increase engagement as it mimics the function of the most engaging digital user experiences i.e. social media platforms.

Users can move directly to other screens to complete Goals by clicking on the “Go” button connected to each goal. This creates a quick seamless connection between the Rewards program and services like transfers and airtime purchases. At this time, Goals are available to users during their first 90 days of signup.

There are also some passive rewards: e.g. N10 cashback for airtime/data purchases, using Moniepoint card, bill payments, etc. Users are notified on these rewards immediately after such a transaction whether they are assigned rewards campaigns or not.

What are the areas for growth?-

Moniepoint uses gamification and incentives to a mixed degree. There is great incentive to transact in the short term with multiple rewards campaigns and seamlessly actionable goals. There is also incentive for personal banking customers to become business customers and eventually qualify for loans. However for personal customers and those that don’t qualify for loans, there is little long term incentive for engagement with our products.

Design Suggestions

Multi-Tier Rewards User Flow-

1. Rewards Tiers based on All-Time Rewards Total

Users would be sorted into different tiers based on the value of their All-Time Total Rewards, e.g. N5K- N10K could be bronze level, N10K-N25K could be silver level, etc. All based on the All-Time Total Rewards value.

This user flow would work well as it would build on the well-established Rewards User Flow which has already proven to increase user engagement.

2. Rewards Tier based on Transaction Volume

Users would be sorted into different tiers based on transaction volume per time period e.g. month/quarter/year. N5K- N40K could be bronze level, N40K-N200K could be silver level, etc. The customer’s transaction volume during the last period would determine their Rewards Tier during the next period.

As long as the rewards are interesting enough, this should increase Moniepoint’s share of customer engagement from the market. Having the rewards reset would create more long term incentive for users to transact and earn rewards, and also reduce the risk of needing better and better rewards.

3. Rewards Tiers based on Account Type (Personal, Business, Loan-Eligible)

Giving better rewards to Business or Loan customers could incentivize more customers to choose Moniepoint for their business and financial needs.

Tier Names

Need research and team collaboration to decide on this.

With typical level titles- Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, etc. Bank of America’s Preferred Rewards, shown in Fig. 5 is an example of a typical naming scheme.

OR

With Moniepoint-customized level titles- Dreamer, Aspirer, Achiever, Leader, etc. First National Bank, shown in Fig. 6, is a great example of a creative naming scheme that projects exclusivity and inspires pride in customer loyalty.

What would We need to do to implement this design?

For each achievement of reaching a new tier, customers can get a level-up reward: Extra free cashback, Moniepoint calendar, jersey/t-shirt, water bottle, notebook, socks, full Moniepoint gift box, other Moniepoint swag, supermarket gift card, movie tickets, etc.

Each level could also come with a greater level of passive rewards e.g. bronze level users get N10 cashback on all data/airtime purchases, silver level users get N20 on such transactions, and so on.

More research is needed to help define how the tiers should be segmented, the design and tier titles. Most importantly research needs to be done to learn what rewards (cash and non-cash) Moniepoint customers want and what the company can provide. The customer interest research should be regularly updated to maintain effectiveness of the Rewards program.

Multi-Tier Rewards Design-

Rewards Level could be presented by

a badge and progress bar placed within the same card as the All-Time Total Rewards

OR

only a badge placed at top-left of the screen

OR

a badge and progress bar in a dedicated card at the top of the screen

Research is necessary to identify which design users would like most.

Works Cited

“Already an eBucks Member?” How eBucks Works, First National Bank, http://www.ebucks.com/web/eBucks/aboutus/how-eBucks-works.jsp . Accessed 13 Jan. 2025.

Donlan, Kirk. “8 Best Tiered Loyalty Program Examples for Customer Retention.” Emarsys, SAP, 10 Dec. 2024, http://emarsys.com/learn/blog/best-tiered-loyalty-programs/ .

Grochowska, Izabela, and Weronika Masternak. “Bank Loyalty Programs: 10 Successful Examples.” Edited by Deon Olivier, OPEN LOYALTY, Open Loyalty, http://www.openloyalty.io/insider/bank-loyalty-programs-10-successful-examples-2022 . Accessed 31 Dec. 2024.

KECSMAR, Zsuzsa, et al., editors. “Global Customer Loyalty Report 2022.” Antavo, 2022, https://antavo.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Global-Customer-Loyalty-Report-2022-by-Antavo.pdf?_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9UQH-BqAY4j7P5bB7QgOTR29QX1Pj0tcQAIo7s1z6SxvfCaKr_Mz7Ozp0AeA6GwxY6zAo9wKIwkisAt_j3V4M2Wv95H0oL1hnt_q0Uynh2mNdit3U&_hsmi=61681060. Accessed 10 Jan. 2025.

Kecsmar, Zsuzsa. “8 Best Tiered Loyalty Programs to Get 80% More Roi.” Antavo, Antavo, 4 Apr. 2024, http://antavo.com/blog/tiered-loyalty-programs/ .