Last month when I moved my 2001 Mazda Millenia back to Cochiti Lake, New Mexico from San Mateo, California I was excited to call Progressive to lower my car insurance - significantly. The agent told me I could possibly lower it an additional 20% if I greed to sign up for Snapshot. Do tell?
It's a device you plug into your car (just under the steering wheel) and it tracks your driving habits. If you slam on the breaks, speed, what time of day you drive, how far you drive, etc. It's going to keep track of me for the next 6 moths, then I mail it back and I will be evaluated against all other drivers using Snapshot. Since I'm working from home again I seldom drive at all unless it's to the airport or into town (Santa Fe) for provisions. Piece of cake. I bet I'm the best Snapshot driver in the world and hey, 20% off is 20% off.
This got me thinking about how it might relate to credit union members. What kind of device could we "plug into" our members to watch their spending habits? Keep them from making bad choices? When I was part of an i3 team at the Filene Research Institute Mary Beth Spuck, Cindy Brucato and Robert Christiansen came up with Centsus. They found in a 2012 BMO Study that 59% of the study participants make impulse purchases, and over half regret the elective spending that they do. I know I've done it. Feeling fat and old I'll pay full price for some crazy blouse I'll only wear once. Or worse yet, it's still hanging in my closet with the tags on. What if there was an app attached to our Apple pay that would KEEP you from making these bad purchase decisions? Can you imagine? You're at the cash register, swipe your phone to pay and it yells "Shame! You don't need that chenille throw! You have a perfectly good one on the back of your couch. Now go home!"
I'll let you know how I do with Snapshot. I haven't driven with it since I plugged it in, I hope it doesn't yell at me......