• Clever Kash: a cashless, digital moneybox in the shape of a yellow toy elephant – the iconic animal ASB has used since the 1960s for its own savings boxes.

• On its belly is a digital screen that interacts with a parent’s mobile banking app via Bluetooth.

• Parents can “swipe” money from their phone (via ASB Mobile banking app), and Clever Kash syncs then reflects that balance, so the child can see their pocket money.

• Payments can be personalised with names, goals can be set, and sound effects add light and playfulness.

Implementation

Clever Kash was designed, researched, prototyped and developed over a twelve-month period. Then it was launched through PR, and via asb.co.nz with a registration of interest and via two online videos showcasing Clever Kash and the development/making of. Registered people were chosen to experience and feed back on the device for an updated version to launch to NZ in September 2016.

Timeline

• Registration of Interest launch September 2015

• First soft launch of 1,050 beta units January 2016

• Mass launch nationwide September 2016

Placement

• 1,050 units were used in family homes for feedback, testing and promotional use

• In branch, where people could come in and try Clever Kash

Scale

• First launch September 2015: 1,050 units nationwide to registered parents and influencers

• In Branch and promotional material nationwide

• Mass launch September 2016

• Business objective of 10,000 registrations of interest met within 5 days. Currently at 38,000.

• ASB’s Brand love scores reached all time high of 93 as a direct result of Clever Kash, contributing to 9% growth in performance (last 6 months).

• Interested customers were highly engaged. Emails had open rates of 48 and 64%. (ASB benchmark 30-35%).

• Featured in all NZ national, primetime news shows, national newspapers and online media plus international coverage from NBC News, Fast Company, Re/Code, The Financial Brand (shared over 600+ times), trend forecasting sites and more. Estimated 10m+ media impressions.

• Contact from 10+ global banks/financial institutions interested in licensing the technology.

• Over 1,100 shares of facebook post, 1,400 comments and 10,000 likes. Video post viewed over 278,000 times. Over 120,00 YouTube views. Over 98,000 minutes of content watched.

• Early customer feedback from pilot shows evidence of behavior change – more regular savings and more conversations about money.

Create a whole new way of teaching kids financial literacy that was completely central to existing behaviours – ie transferring money via mobile phone.

ASB Bank also had an old, free yellow savings box called Kashin that they’d had since the 1960s, but no one cares about it anymore. It was the perfect asset to update and make valuable again.

Data gathering and insights

• 2015 was the first year ASB mobile banking overtook physical banking.

• In New Zealand, most people of parent age no longer carry cash in their pockets anymore – but they do carry mobile phones.

Target audience (consumer demographic/individuals/ organisations)

Parents of young families (children aged 4-12), typically 30-49 years

• Relevance to platform

Mobile banking is now the primary way customers bank, and rather than build a separate app, functionality was built into the existing banking app and updated every phone during the next routine update.

Situation

ASB Bank’s problem is the world’s problem: online banking is creating a cashless society, so how could our children continue to understand the value of money, when they no longer see it? We had the chance to create a digital innovation to answer a problem created by the digital world.

Brief

Creating an innovative and educational idea where digital interaction was integral - and connect children once again to the tangibility of money while delighting their senses and minds.

Objectives

• Breathe new life into teaching children about saving – make money tangible in a digital environment

• Retain existing customers with young families, and acquire new ones from competitor banks

• Reinforce ASB Bank’s credentials as an innovative bank.