Improving 280k employees' financial confidence in 60+ countries

• Industry: FMCG
• No. of employees: 280k
• Countries live: 60+

The challenge

As part of their commitment to global workforce support, PepsiCo set out to build long-term financial fitness for everyone who works there. Outside the U.S., though, provision was patchy. Some markets had strong support, others had very little, and a few had nothing at all. The goal was a single, consistent experience for every associate, wherever they sat.

PepsiCo's complex workforce spans frontline, salaried and management roles across dozens of countries, each with different financial systems, languages and benefits. Many frontline employees had no company email or network access, so reaching them at all called for a different approach.

The business case drew on external pressures, including the cost-of-living squeeze, and on employee survey feedback. Money management came through as a leading source of stress worldwide. Retirement readiness was a separate concern in markets where people can borrow against or withdraw from their savings. PepsiCo also wanted to lift financial confidence for employees, their families, and the communities around them.

The solution

Built on impartial, personalized guidance

PepsiCo chose nudge to deliver a globally consistent program powered by impartial, personalized financial guidance, localized to each market and free of product or provider bias.

Together they created a program brand, Healthy Money, with five aims:

• Build employees' financial confidence, resilience and overall wellbeing
• Improve understanding and appreciation of PepsiCo benefits
• Use analytics and insights to drive personalization
• Improve the digital experience, connecting the wider benefits and wellbeing ecosystem
• Expand Healthy Money globally with a consistent, best-in-class offer 

A global-first launch

PepsiCo and nudge took Healthy Money to a global workforce through an omni-channel approach:

• Centrally created multimedia and promotional toolkits equipped regional HR and communications leads, ready to activate in local languages.
• A dedicated web page and QR codes let frontline employees log in without being on a company site or network.
• Where frontline workers had no company email, PepsiCo used personal emails captured through benefits administration to extend reach.
• Financial and prize incentives encouraged people to register and complete the financial health checkup, from sweepstake entries to wellbeing dollars redeemable as gift cards.
• Regional reward teams attended on-site benefit fairs in selected countries, and nudge promoted wider benefits around key moments, including National 401(k) Day and World Mental Health Day.

Reaching everyone

A core aim was making sure frontline workers saw Healthy Money as built for them, not just for management. PepsiCo and nudge:

• Used images of frontline workers throughout, so the program read as something for everyone.
• Sent print home-mailers, recognizing that the person managing household finances might not be the employee.
• Connected financial guidance to other benefits, launching phase one during World Mental Health Week alongside EAP resources.
• Produced an energetic, reggaeton-style jingle and short video to introduce nudge across LATAM markets in Spanish.
• Led on the platform's dual-language functionality for the large group of U.S. frontline employees who prefer Spanish, an approach PepsiCo leadership praised as inclusive and frontline-centric.
• Brought guidance on-site, visiting manufacturing plants to support employees away from a desk.

Personalized guidance also extended to one-to-one support. In the U.S., Healthy Money coaches give employees direct, confidential help, and key retirement information now sits on the platform itself.

Through the PepsiCo Foundation Family Scholars Program, support reaches further still, helping the children and families of associates with the cost of higher education.

The results:

• 60+ countries reached, covering more than 95% of the global workforce
• 98% of employees get guidance localized to their country and language
• 3 in 4 active users come back three or more times
• 26% of engaged employees made contribution changes to their retirement scheme in the U.S.
• $3.1 million directed into retirement savings through salary sacrifice in one market in a single year (up roughly $270,000 YoY)
• $470,000 in payroll-tax savings, with contributions up around $270,000 year on year
• +10 points average rise in financial health for frontline employees (+8 point rise across the workforce overall)