“To say it has spread like wildfire is to exaggerate thepower of wildfires.” That's how The New Yorker contributorOm Malik characterized the rapid adoption of the latest mobilegaming craze, Pokémon Go.

Built on a foundation of augmented reality, the game overlaysthe real-time images captured by a user's smartphone camera withcartoon Pokémon characters. Kids and adults alike are wanderingtheir cities, visiting physical locations to apprehend the animatedcreatures inside a virtual world they interact with on theirscreens.

Aside from the increasing likelihood of Pokémon Go playerswandering into credit union branches, why should the largermovement care?

Although there's likely a wide swath of lessons we can learnfrom the app's popularity, one stands out for me: AR's outstandingability to trigger certain behaviors.

Just look at how this one app has already roused some 21 millionindividuals from their couches (and office chairs) to visit veryspecific locations. Retail stores, churches – even some communityfinancial institutions – are experiencing unprecedented crowdscomprised of entirely new consumer segments. Users are devoting 43minutes on average to Pokémon Go. That's more time than evenSnapchat or Facebook commands.

Way Beyond Gaming

You might say gaming is but one Pokéstop on AR's longer journeyto mass adoption. According to a Digi-Capital study, AR companieswill generate $120 billion in revenue by 2020. The immersivetechnology has already begun moving beyond the gaming universe intoour own world of financial services.

AR blends virtual reality and real life to give people deep,visceral experiences without the cost, time or risk they mayotherwise have to expend. And it's only sometimes aboutentertainment. Other times, it's about something much more serious,like the engineering and maintenance of jets. Lockheed Martin, forexample, has used AR to compare digital 3D models of aircraft withactual aircraft to identify potential damage.

As for financial services, one investment bank has begunexperimenting with the technology inside its wealth managementdivision. People often struggle to really “see” their financialfutures. With AR's ability to “achieve presence,” visualizing ourfuture may become easier. The bank has built an interactiveretirement planning app that helps users picture, quite literally,their journey toward retirement. Early studies of the applicationshowed consumers, when shown computer-generated versions ofthemselves at retirement age, are more willing to accept laterfinancial rewards over immediate ones.

This is just one example of how AR can convert financial contentfrom boring or uninspiring to vivid and immersive. Try getting amillennial consumer into a branch to sign up for a retirementsavings account. Not likely, right? But what if we could help theconsumer visualize him or herself down the road with an ARexperience?

AR has a lot of potential to transform education, as well.Future generations of credit union members and leaders may come toexpect immersive learning experiences. Consider Google Expeditions,which takes students on virtual field trips, or World of Comenius,which uses virtual reality headsets to teach biology and anatomy.The potential for AR to improve the delivery and effectiveness offinancial literacy initiatives, too, is significant.

Convergence of Technology Drives Scale

The future of AR in banking is something we've been watching atTMG for several years. In fact, it was part of the 2015 TMGExecutive Summit opening session, which addressed several of theexponential technologies reshaping our business. At this year'sExecutive Summit, we took that discussion a step further by lookingat the exponential growth curve.

The curve outlines what happens to a product or service when itbecomes digitized. It travels through what XPRIZE Foundation CEOPeter Diamandis calls the 6D's of exponential technology,eventually becoming democratized. In other words, it becomes sowidely available, markets begin to explode.

Pokémon Go is a great example of this. Users no longer need tocome out of pocket for an expensive and soon-to-be-outdated gamingconsole to participate. They no longer need a wired connection tothe internet. Nor do they even need to have actual friendships tobe a part of the ever-expanding Pokémon gaming community. Theconvergence of augmented reality, mobile handsets, broadbandinternet and social networks has revolutionized gaming. Thiscombination of exponential technologies has opened entirely newmarkets for game developers and allowed products like Pokémon Go toscale – and fast.

If we think the rapid convergence of exponential technologieswon't soon do the same for everyday financial transactions, we havesome more thinking to do.

How Can We Participate in AR Disruption?

Like many of the toe-dipping innovations consumers andbusinesses are experimenting with today, Google isn't far removed.Pokémon Go's developer, Niantic, is a project that started insideGoogle, developing augmented and mixed-media reality games formobile devices. Niantic has since spun off on its own.

Google is no stranger to AR. Remember Google Glass? Although itsfirst iteration did not hit the mark with consumers, the learningsGoogle came away with will undoubtedly inform future generations ofthe tech giant's AR-enabled technology.

This is not to say the only innovators out there work forGoogle. Earlier this month, I was introduced to Ernie Garcia,founder of Carvana, a startup auto sales business that is foreveraltering the car-buying experience. What he said struck me asincredibly important for those credit union leaders who feel astirring in their belly to explore exponential technologies but whomay be operating in a culture too risk averse to put any realenergy behind it.

His advice to credit union leaders was to intelligently findways to experiment. He suggested cooperatives partner with startupsto fill in some of the innovation gaps they may have. “Startupswant to be your experiment so badly,” he said. “They will work hardfor you; they are fighting to stay alive. If it doesn't work out,it won't hurt you too badly.”

Exponential Technology Requires ExponentialLeadership

“Pocket monsters” hide in plain sight within Pokémon Go. Whichtechnologies are doing the same in our rapidly-evolving world?Imagine the power of AR, especially when combined with otherexponential technologies, like 3D printing, robotics or machinelearning. It's a virtual tsunami of innovation with waves ofdisruption threatening the shores of traditional financialservices.

As scary as that sounds, the power of exponential technology canbe harnessed to reimagine everyday banking.

What is – or can be – digitized to allow for rapid, exponentialgrowth and scalability across the financial services ecosystem? Howcan we use technology to create immersive, motivating experiencesthat improve the lives of the consumers we serve?

To answer those and similar questions, we must work to developcultures of exponential leadership within the movement. Reaping thesignificant benefits of exponential technologies like AR startswith an innovative and exponential mindset.

Shazia Manus is CEO of payments processor TMG. She can bereached at [email protected].