brightpeak financial is a separate brand division of Thrivent (USA), helping young Christians feel more confident about their finances.

One in four US citizens is physically ill due to financial worries. Relationships and finances are intertwined: money issue and financial stress are some of the biggest factors for the increasing levels of divorce among young people. brightpeak is trying to counteract this by offering a confidence proposition, not insurance, to its target customer base of Christian millennials and young Christian families. It utilises new media channels (such as YouTube) to create specific content for this market.

The brightpeak team are in a separate location to Thrivent, based in a warehouse garage. The company acts like a real start-up with limited funding. It needs an agile mindset, using mostly coders and data scientists. Being aware of how adaptable brightpeak’s team is, has helped dictate success. It tries new prototypes regularly and test even when the prototype is imperfect. Time has been spent understanding fintechs, including practicing creative disciplines (i.e. learning from painters, sculptors, etc).

Its mantra is “don’t plan, just start and learn. Create something; and then step back”.

brightpeak takes a holistic approach when interacting with its customers. It focuses on budgeting and savings of customers, as opposed to insurance. Insurance comes later once the relationship is built. Personalisation is also expected, especially from the younger generation who have greater (digital first) expectations. Its leading example is its ‘together’ app, which was modelled on the financial behaviours of couples.

In brightpeak’s experience, it is essential to keep experimenting with new channels in order to reach and interact with new (younger) customers.