Trust, Motivation, and Money

Recently my team has been diving deep into the motivations from our Incentives & Rewards customers. The reason behind this investigation stems from several sources that converged at the same time: Voice of the Customer feedback, customer product interviews and client feedback. 

As we compiled and synthesized the data, several themes began to emerge and the themes were quite familiar to me. I discovered that there was a correlation to the work I had done previously for several Financial Services clients, such as Amica Insurance, Liberty Bank, John Hancock Insurance and my current I & R clients.

Financial Services and Incentives & Rewards programs may seem different, but they have a lot in common when you look through the lens of User Experience, Product Design, and customer psychology. Essentially, both industries aim to influence behavior, build trust, and deliver value through experience.

At a high-level, lets look at the four key differences between the two industries.

Financial services encourage users to save, borrow responsibly, or invest. Rewards programs push users toward purchases, referrals, and loyalty behaviors. Both industries design experiences to motivate and reinforce positive decisions.

Financial products can't exist without deep customer trust in security and fairness. Rewards programs also depend on users believing the system is fair and that rewards will be delivered as promised. Trust is the invisible currency that powers both experiences.

Money, debt, and savings stir deep emotions like fear, hope, and pride. Rewards programs tap into excitement, status, and satisfaction. UX must address these emotional stakes carefully — small missteps can cost brands long-term loyalty.

Financial products are often complex, and rewards programs can hide frustrating fine print. Clear, simple communication is essential to avoid confusion, prevent churn, and maintain user confidence in both spaces.

Whether managing money or chasing rewards, both industries are about building trust-based systems that motivate human behavior — with money, value, and emotion at the center of it all. We used these insights to re-frame and overhaul our product features and systems communications for deeper customer engagement.