Fusion Digital Banking and SavvyMoney: engaging and educating account holders with an intelligent credit score solution

Financial institutions (FIs) need to be increasingly flexible, customer-first and quick to innovate to succeed in a fast changing world.

Is your FI responding to fast-moving industry developments and to the changing needs and expectations of your account holders to ensure you’re fit for the future?

Most account holders want tailored financial advice and guidance from their bank or credit union, but many FIs don’t have the systems or processes to offer this type of support.

With more and more people banking via digital platforms, it’s imperative that FIs are able to deliver an experience that matches or exceeds their account holders’ digital expectations.

FIs should be able to harness this shift in account holders’ expectations. And we want the digital banking experience to be as easy to use, streamlined, and personalized as possible. These are the main ethos that guide Finastra’s Fusion Digital Banking. Our FusionFabric.cloud open development platform provides FIs with access to a range of scalable tech solutions that give them actionable and relevant data to help customize their services. The platform allows FIs to be more agile and better able to compete with the big banks and non-traditional financial organizations entering the market.

A great example of this is our partnership with SavvyMoney, whose technology can be integrated into mobile and online Fusion Digital Banking to enable account holders to take control of their financial future with easy-to-understand advice about their credit ratings.

A smarter credit score solution
The success of brands such as Credit Karma, which give users quick and easy access to their credit scores, as well as helpful suggestions on relevant products, services and financial wellness tools based on their scores, poses a significant threat to smaller FIs. Account holders who choose to use these credit score services may be at risk of being poached by the big banks and fintechs who market their products in these arenas.

More than 75% of credit score users say they would prefer to access their score from within their FI’s online portal or website than from a third-party provider. Coupled with the threat to customer retention, this has inspired SavvyMoney to build a white-label, customizable, smart credit score solution that can be easily integrated into an FI’s existing digital banking services. And, because it’s seamlessly integrated with Fusion Digital Banking, it provides a consistent, fast and frictionless mobile-first experience across digital channels.

Once opted in, account holders can access their credit score, Vantage 3.0 score or full TransUnion credit report through their personal banking account. They can also download a PDF of their credit report or start a dispute online if they notice an error.

Taking credit scores further
SavvyMoney offers more than just a credit score and report. The team at SavvyMoney recognize that although people increasingly want financial guidance from their FI, many institutions don’t have the resources and technology to provide this.

To fill this gap, SavvyMoney has developed tools that allow FIs to engage more deeply with their account holders, empowering them to take control of their credit, learn more about their finances, save money and receive personalized recommendations and actionable advice about their financial health.

For example, the SavvyMoney ‘Score Analysis’ feature educates account holders about how their credit score is calculated and how they’re using their various credit cards and lending products, with recommendations on how to maintain or improve their score. Other tools such as the ‘Score Simulator’ show clearly how different hypothetical scenarios, such as opening a new credit card or paying off a certain amount, could impact their score.

FIs can also personalize offers within the SavvyMoney solution and make recommendations on which of their products could help account holders to save money, while the ‘Debt Consolidation’ option allows users to select different terms and see the potential savings they could be making by managing all of their debt with a single institution. Account holders can review and compare personalized offers and products based on their credit rating score and repayment terms.

SavvyMoney also produces fresh and regular educational content for FIs to use and share across their marketing platforms.

The power of analytics
The SavvyMoney team has also developed a robust analytics platform to give FIs valuable real-time information about their account holders’ credit score trends and data-driven personalization capabilities.  

The platform can provide a snapshot of an institution’s wallet share based on aggregate data, highlighting performance relative to its competitors and opportunities to grow market share.

User activity and aggregated data can also be used to tailor and run smarter and more targeted marketing campaigns that match potential account holders’ needs. The opportunities to use data in meaningful ways to improve the account holder experience are almost endless. For example, SavvyMoney can help increase loan applications through the use of an offer engine targeting pre‑qualified customers.

Proven results
SavvyMoney has over 700 FI partners and a proven track record of user adoption, with account holders using the SavvyMoney tool improving their credit score by an average of 14 points over a 12-month period. One SavvyMoney partner has recently seen a double return on their investment in the first four years of the partnership.

We believe that SavvyMoney provides an easy-to-use response to the growing consumer need for financial information and education while also enabling FIs to match and tailor their products to their account holders’ needs.

By improving the account holder experience, making them feel understood and supported, institutions can increase engagement and satisfaction, earn greater customer loyalty and, ultimately, increase uptake of their products and referrals.

You can watch our webinar for a practical demo of the SavvyMoney solution here.