Michigan State University Federal Credit Union (MSUFCU) is the largest university-based credit union in the world, serving Michigan State University, Oakland University and their surrounding communities.

As a university-based credit union, MSUFCU is committed to educating students about their finances. To this end, MSUFCU is building a suite of apps called Financial 4.0 designed to teach students about a variety of important economic topics.

As part of the suite, our Financial 4.0 Interactive Budgeting Tool enables students to create and manage personal budgets. In order to make this more appealing and more fun for students, our app includes game-like features.

Students can compete in a variety of financial games such as the “52-Week Money Challenge” and the “Shopping Spree on a Budget.” Winners are awarded points that determine a player’s rank. Future versions of these challenges may include prizes provided by MSUFCU.

In addition to budgeting and gaming, our app provides students with a financial “Tip of the Week.”

This version of Financial 4.0 Interactive Budgeting Tool is styled after MSUFCU apps. Our system is designed to be adapted easily to produce a future version styled for Oakland University Credit Union as well.

Our Financial 4.0 Interactive Budgeting Tool runs on iPhones, Android devices and within any web browser. It uses HTTP requests to communicate with our server, which in turn are handled using our PHP-based back end.