FinTech News
Greenlight Partners with Tropical Smoothie Cafe for App Rewards
The financial learning app Greenlight is introducing a new way to reward students, forming a partnership with Tropical Smoothie Cafe.
About the partnership and program:
Greenlight is adding a new rewards program to its Level Up financial literacy game. Now, users can earn a free smoothie from Tropical Smoothie Cafe by playing the game and completing levels. Specifically, when players finish 10 Level Up challenges in a learning quest, they’ll receive a free 12-ounce kids smoothie. Additionally, when players refer friends to the app, they’ll also receive a free smoothie when the person they referred completes 10 challenges.
To get started, families can download the Greenlight app in order to play a selection of Level Up challenges, including the ability to earn rewards. After downloading the app, users can find a link to the game at the bottom of the page (below the Get Started and Sign In buttons) The complete Level Up curriculum is also offered by banks, credit unions, and employers that partner with Greenlight.
In Level Up, players will learn about a number of financial topics via videos, minigames, and quizzes. Topics covered in the game include earning, spending, saving, investing, credit, taxes, and more.
What they’re saying:
Announcing the new rewards program and partnership, Greenlight’s Director of Education Jennifer Seitz said, “At Greenlight, we’re always looking for new ways to empower young people to learn about money. Level Up has been a tremendous success in helping kids and teens develop healthy financial skills in a fun, engaging way. Thanks to Tropical Smoothie Cafe, we look forward to bringing best-in-class financial education to even more families across the country.”
Meanwhile, Tropical Smoothie Cafe CMO Deborah von Kutzleben stated, “Our collaboration with Greenlight aligns with our mission to Inspire Better and help all kids shine bright. As the first brand providing rewards that are integrated into the Greenlight Level Up game, we look forward to the opportunity to reward hard-working kids with a free 12 oz. kids smoothie.” Von Kutzleben added, “Tropical Smoothie Cafe hopes to enhance Greenlight’s mission to improve financial education among kids by offering an incentive to learn about money.”
My thoughts:
When I first read this story, there were two words that came to mind: Book It. For those unfamiliar, Book It is a program (yes, it apparently still exists) from Pizza Hut that allows students to earn personal pan pizzas for reaching reading goals. In my mind, this offering from Greenlight and Tropical Smoothie Cafe is basically the personal finance version of that — but replacing regular literacy with financial literacy.
As you can probably tell, I think this program is a win. While in-game currencies and points are fun, being able to turn those into a real-life treat will surely be impactful for young players. In turn, this partnership will hopefully result in more kids increasing their financial knowledge.