Finance isn’t getting dumbed down. It’s getting better at holding attention. Too bad most brands are still afraid of the comments section.

TikTok continues to amaze me—not because it’s new, but because it’s still growing, still reshaping behavior and still being dismissed by people who should know better.

A few years ago, most marketers outside of fashion, beauty, or fast food wrote TikTok off as fluff. A place for dances, memes, maybe a chip brand or a sneaker drop. Certainly not where you’d expect to find serious financial advice or watch someone unbox a credit card like it’s a Rolex.

And yet, here we are.

The most sobering, regulated, and jargon-laden industries—banking, credit, investing—are not only showing up on TikTok, they’re being decoded, demystified, and in some cases, made aspirational. Not by the brands themselves, but by creators with a ring light, a point of view and a better grasp of the algorithm than most CMOs.

Meanwhile, financial brands are still wringing their hands in meeting rooms asking whether it’s “on-brand” to be on TikTok. The problem isn’t the platform. I can tell you, as someone who has been in those rooms: It’s the fear of appearing lame.

TikTok Is the New Financial Advisor

Nearly 80% of Gen Z—roughly anyone born between 1997 and 2012—gets financial advice from social media. TikTok has officially overtaken Google as the go-to for “how to” searches. Not because it’s more accurate, but because it feels more accessible.

Creators like @humphreytalks and @themoneycoach—both personal finance educators who simplify topics like credit scores and compound interest—have built trust with millions of followers. They speak plainly, consistently, and don’t sound like someone reading terms and conditions out loud.

Meanwhile, many banks are still hiding behind PDFs and phrases like “click to learn more.”

Why Big Finance Stays Silent

Yes, compliance matters. Financial services are tightly regulated and legally accountable for what they say publicly. But that’s not the real issue.

The real issue is tone. Most institutions are terrified of looking stupid. They’d rather say nothing than risk saying something wrong. It’s a defensive posture dressed up as brand protection.

Only 8% of global banks have any active TikTok presence at all (Capgemini, 2024). HSBC, the British multinational bank, tested the waters briefly and yanked its TikTok content after it was met with the level of mockery and awkward silence usually reserved for old white men dancing. At least they tried.

Trust Has Moved from Institutions to Individuals

Trust used to live in buildings with marble floors and logos carved in stone. Now it lives with people. Individuals who show up regularly, explain clearly and don’t speak in bullet points.

According to Edelman’s 2024 Trust Barometer, 64% of Gen Z say they’re more likely to buy from brands that explain things rather than just market to them. Public.com, a US-based investing platform, leaned into this insight early. Instead of pitching stocks, they funded creator content that unpacks financial concepts in plain language—earning trust where traditional ads never reached.

Global FinTok Is Outpacing Western Institutions

In many parts of the world, TikTok isn’t an option—it’s the primary channel for learning about money.

GeoPoll’s 2023 research showed that in Nigeria, 80% of Gen Z learned about saving and investing through TikTok or WhatsApp, not through schools or banks. In Southeast Asia, platforms like Robo.cash, a micro-investing app, are working with regional creators to produce short explainers on savings goals, budgeting and responsible borrowing. They don’t use big words. They use subtitles.

Credit Card Unboxings and the Performance of Wealth

On TikTok, finance has become performance. Credit cards, which used to arrive with little fanfare, are now being unboxed in slow motion, filmed from three angles, and set to music.

According to TikTok’s internal analytics, #creditcardunboxing content racked up over 350 million views in 2024. The American Express Platinum card—heavy, shiny, wrapped like a Bond villain’s party invitation—is a FinTok star. Amex didn’t orchestrate the campaign. The culture did.

BNPL Is Luxury’s Favorite New Game

Buy now pay later (BNPL) platforms like Klarna, Afterpay, and Tabby (used in the Middle East) aren’t just being used for budget-conscious buys. They’re being used for luxury travel, fashion, and experiences—by design.

A 2024 Klarna report showed that more than 60% of Gen Z users used BNPL to pay for travel, and one in three used it for designer purchases. TikTok creators now post “Paris trip paid in four installments” or “my Dubai birthday haul with Afterpay”—normalizing installment-based spending not for necessity, but for indulgence.

Creators are driving this behavior. The brands are just lucky enough to be tagged.

The Smart Brands Know It’s About Tone, Not Trends

Brands that win on TikTok aren’t chasing dances. They’re figuring out tone.

Klarna—headquartered in Sweden and best known for its BNPL offering—partnered with Filipino-American beauty creator Bretman Rock to embed product usage into lifestyle content. No hard sell. Just real usage, real talk, and a platform-native format.

Monzo, a UK-based challenger bank, has made it a policy to engage TikTok users in comment threads with human replies—no bots, no scripts. It sounds like a person, not a brand, and that alone makes it stand out.

This Isn’t a Youth Channel. It’s a Market Channel.

Some CMOs still say, “Gen Z isn’t our target customer yet.” That’s a nice way to ignore reality.

Deloitte’s 2024 Digital Banking Survey found that 70% of Gen Z opened a financial product—checking accounts, investing apps or payment tools—on their phones in the past year. They’re not waiting for your next campaign. They’re choosing based on who shows up in their feed.

Step, a US-based teen banking app, built its user base of 3 million almost entirely on TikTok using creator partnerships and platform-native content.

Even the Wealthy Are Watching

TikTok isn’t just shaping the financially curious. It’s quietly influencing the financially powerful.

According to UBS’s 2023 report, 32% of high-net-worth Gen Z individuals—those with over $1 million in assets—follow at least one personal finance creator. They already have wealth managers, but they’re using TikTok to stay informed, explore new products or hear how people their age think about money.

Goldman Sachs’ consumer division, Marcus, didn’t make a big splash. They just supported creators talking about saving goals and let the message blend in. Less corporate, more credible.

The Cost of Staying Off-Camera

Kantar’s 2024 research found that 69% of Gen Z judge brand relevance by whether the brand shows up on their platforms—and does so without shouting. In that world, silence isn’t safety. It’s irrelevance.

TikTok is rapidly becoming where the next generation learns, chooses, and builds habits. The brands that aren’t there? Well, if they’re not part of the conversation, they probably won’t be part of the decision.

If your brand still sees TikTok as unserious, then it’s not the platform that’s out of touch. It’s your positioning. You’re a horizontal brand in a vertically-filmed world.

The currency of trust has changed. And if that means standing on your head to reach the next generation—then maybe it’s time to loosen your collar and start practicing your handstands.

Sources:
Adobe (2024) – TikTok overtaking Google for Gen Z searches, Deloitte Digital Banking Consumer Survey (2024) – Gen Z financial product behavior, UBS Investor Sentiment Report (2023) – Gen Z HNW and influencers, Kantar Media Relevance Study (2024) – Platform presence and brand trust, Forbes (2023) – Gen Z gets financial advice from social media, Edelman Trust Barometer (2024) – Brand trust among Gen Z, Capgemini World Retail Banking Report (2024) – Bank presence on TikTok, GeoPoll (2023) – Youth financial education in Africa, TikTok Creator Marketplace (2024) – #CreditCardUnboxing view counts, Klarna Report (2024) – BNPL and luxury/travel spending.