ANN ARBOR—ChoiceOne Bank (OTC: COFS), based in Sparta, announced that it is expanding its relationship with Ann Arbor-based HT Mobile Apps, to offer HTMA’s entire portfolio of apps: Plinqit, Banker Jr. and Hip Pocket.
When the bank launched Plinqit two years ago, its goal was to address its primary challenge of revenue optimization—acquiring low-cost deposits, writing good loans and creating long-lasting relationships, all with the goal to build and grow the business. The app enables customers to securely link their Plinqit account to their checking account, set a savings goal and automatically set aside a small amount of money at a rate and schedule the customer chooses. The account opening process takes less than five minutes.
Since offering Plinqit, ChoiceOne Bank has grown total Plinqit users month-over-month resulting in an average savings goal of $1,160 per account. Many of ChoiceOne’s customers have already reached their goal, with the majority (nearly 80 percent) creating new goals to continue saving. Overall, Plinqit users have contributed over $300,000 in total deposits.
After experiencing success with Plinqit over the last two years, ChoiceOne Bank decided to expand its offerings with Banker Jr. and a pilot of Hip Pocket. Banker Jr. is an educational tool for bank customers and their children. By making learning about money fun, children ages three to 12 years old can learn how to monitor their accounts, set savings goals and improve their financial literacy. Users are challenged to continue learning valuable skills as they play and earn rewards.
Hip Pocket is a platform that engages mobile and website visitors by using social influence and personalized consultation to generate new, qualified mortgage and retirement leads. The comparison tool was designed to help people save money while creating a way for financial institutions to connect with customers.
“Our customers love Plinqit, and they continue to keep saving and engaging because of the app’s rewards and a great user experience,” said Adom Greenland, COO of ChoiceOne Bank. “With the savings app, we’ve helped our customers reach their goals and have fostered stronger relationships, evidenced by the number of account openings and the amount saved. We are impressed with the success we have had with Plinqit, so it felt natural to expand our partnership with HTMA and offer Banker Jr. and pilot the Hip Pocket product.”
“Financial institutions are aggressively competing for deposits and looking for ways to increase engagement,” said Kathleen Craig, founder and CEO of HT Mobile Apps. “A non-traditional ‘cool’ tool, Plinqit is a solution to this and the banks offering it are seeing real results. We are excited by the success ChoiceOne has had increasing deposits, bringing in new relationships, generating valuable cross-sell opportunities and increasing engagement. Growing this partnership is truly a win-win, helping the bank continue to succeed and helping to improve financial wellness for users of all ages.”
Plinqit is a brandable, mobile first platform that is elegant and highly powerful at the same time. Unlike any other savings app on the market, its patent-pending Build Skills pays users for engaging with content, creating higher user engagement for financial institutions. Created by Millennials for Millennials, Plinqit helps financial institutions connect with this important demographic in a meaningful, relevant way—bringing together digital customers, financial institutions and savings in one beautiful place. For more information, visit www.plinqit.com.
ChoiceOne Financial Services Inc. is a financial holding company headquartered in Sparta. Its ChoiceOne Bank subsidiary operates 14 full-service offices in parts of Kent, Ottawa, Muskegon, and Newaygo counties. According to regulatory reports, ChoiceOne has about 170 employees and about $660 million in total assets. ChoiceOne Bank also offers insurance and investment products through its subsidiary, ChoiceOne Insurance Agencies Inc. More at www.choiceone.com.