Advertising has long ceased to be something unusual as a kind of social and, at the same time, in a sense, an economic phenomenon from the point of view of its own existence as a factor impacting the commercial performance of individual industries and brands, which means that people are accustomed to the fact that they see such marketing content daily and in considerable quantities, but in recently, there have been certain changes because that there are more and more mentions of offers from companies, specializing in providing various categories of financial services based on technology, available to consumers in different physical public and virtual locations.
Currently, there is a steady process of strengthening the marketing actions of firms operating in the fintech area. A kind of physical manifestation of this tendency is the increase in the number of relevant advertisements in metropolitan hubs such as New York, San Francisco, and London. As part of the mentioned effort, fintech companies aim to reach a wide range of consumers.
Data from the Outfront Media Inc. advertising firm shows that over the past three years, the volume of spending on advertising in the fintech industry has grown by more than 45% on average. The mentioned company’s clients include, in particular, such fintech brands as Mercury, Brex, Inter & Co., Klarna, CashApp, PayPal, and Venmo.
It is worth noting that the growth of the mentioned spending is observed at a time when the popularity of fintech services among consumers is increasing. In this case, it refers to all categories of companies operating in the relevant industry, which includes, among others, payment firms and neobanks. The average consumer is gradually ceasing to perceive the fintech industry as a kind of experimental functional space, interaction with which does not have a guaranteed positive result. The practice of mass-using fintech firms’ services is at the stage of intensive scaling. In the process of its development, the mentioned industry has ceased to be just the plane of realizing the ambitions of founders and venture capitalists to build the high-tech financial infrastructure of the future. Fintech has become a fully functional environment for large-scale operations. Companies operating in the mentioned industry are reaching ripe maturity levels not only to expand their customer base and product lines but also for potential initial public offerings (IPOs) or acquisitions.
Jeff Titterton, chief marketing officer at payments brand Stripe Inc., stated that fintech firms for forever were very aligned with digital-native businesses. In this context, it was separately noted that currently, the mentioned companies are taking on a broader purview. It was also highlighted that the addressable market of these firms continues to grow. To a certain extent, the corresponding tendency explains the scaling of advertising campaigns of fintech companies. Stripe Inc., which was founded in 2010 by now-billionaire brothers Patrick and John Collison, first forayed into brand advertising last year. In this case, there is an illustrative example of how advertising campaigns are becoming an increasingly common practice for fintech firms.
Brex, which issues corporate credit cards and provides consumers with expense management capabilities, has been implementing out-of-home marketing strategies for several years. Since early in its inception in 2017, this firm has been launching billboard campaigns. Brex also stated that its spending on out-of-home advertising is constantly increasing by 30% year-on-year. Moreover, the company has shifted the focus of its messaging from serving startups to businesses in different segments and sizes.
Scott Holden, chief marketing officer at Brex, who joined the firm in 2023, said that before he became part of the brand’s team, there was no targeting the enterprise audience specifically in out-of-home efforts. According to him, the company really focused on using that medium to sell corporate cards to startups. Then when he joined, the firm launched out-of-home messaging to be about Brex being a unified spending platform.
Digital banking platform Mercury, founded in 2017, has also expanded its messaging to market itself as more than an industry player just providing banking software to customers. In April, the company launched a new consumer banking product for founders and investors. This product, called Mercury Personal, provides consumers with access to advanced digital banking tools. In this case, it means, among other things, a functional solution such as free wire transfers. Also, as part of the interaction with the tool launched in April, consumers will get access to multiple debit cards.
Heather MacKinnon, head of brand at Mercury, said that during the first couple of years of its existence, the company focused on communicating that it provides banking services for startups. However, in 2024, she said, the goal was to reposition the firm as something more than just a bank account. Heather MacKinnon also noted that in this case there was a desire to associate Mercury with banking in general and financial software. Last year, the advertising campaign of the mentioned company actively used a kind of marketing narrative aimed at highlighting the fact that the brand is involved in the banking space and carries out multifunctional activities in the appropriate environment. The mentioned semantic basis significantly contrasts with what can be called the ideology of the Mercury advertising concept in its configuration that existed before 2024. In the past, the company’s marketing narratives focused on interacting with startups. The consistent highlighting of the firm’s involvement in banking reflects the scaling of the functional content of its activities.
Currently, fintech companies are showing increased attention to the mass market. It is worth noting that the corresponding tendency is observed at a time when the number of fintech industry players facing increased regulatory scrutiny is increasing. In this case, special attention is paid to partnerships between fintech companies and traditional banks. Compliance and the potential risk of deception customers around hidden fees are also important issues for regulators. Last year, Synapse Financial Technologies Inc., one of the largest fintech middlemen companies, collapsed, which triggered a cascade of problems for firms that used the mentioned brand’s functional solutions to transfer funds to banks. Against this background, regulators’ attention to the fintech industry has increased. Scrutiny has also spread to Mercury, which sued Synapse in 2023. In this case, regulators’ attention is because the mentioned company let foreign firms open accounts through one of its banking partners, Choice Bank.
At the same time, regulatory practices regarding the fintech industry in the United States may soon change. It is worth noting that in this case, it implies a favorable transformation of the mentioned practice for the relevant companies against the background of the return to the White House of Donald Trump, who won the US presidential election in November.
Currently, there is increasing hope in the fintech industry that the long period of drought of public listings may be nearing its end. The corresponding expectations were reinforced after the Swedish giant Buy-Now, Pay-Later (BNPL) Klarna Bank AB announced its plans to go public in New York in the first half of 2025. If the listing of this company is successful, it will become a kind of motivational example for other fintech industry players in the context of the potential implementation of their IPO plans. Marketing executives are most likely to pay attention to the results of the mentioned planned Klarna efforts.
Scott Holden stated that the company will do broad advertising if it has a product that is very driven by awareness. Also, in this context, it was separately noted that awareness can very quickly transform into an acquisition.
It is worth noting that recently there has been a kind of change in the nature of the relationship between fintech companies and credit unions. In this case, the competition is transformed into a partnership. The corresponding tendency is largely because consumers are demonstrating a growing demand for seamless banking services. The results of special industry research indicate that currently in the United States, 66% of fintech companies see credit unions as customers, and 90% view them as partners. Moreover, nowadays 43% of fintech firms offer products to credit unions, including solutions for self-service and member experience enhancements. The mentioned activity corresponds to the growing demand for digital services. In this case, credit unions gain a competitive advantage over large banks.
Returning to the issue of fintech companies’ advertising spending, it can be assumed that these firms will continue to scale their corresponding efforts. The appropriate assumption is related to the tendency, in which fintech brands are increasingly involved in the space of the mass market of financial services. The corresponding process takes the form of manifestation both in the context of increasing the list of products offered to consumers and in terms of expanding the scale of activities.
As we have reported earlier, Australian Fintech Faces Contraction, Blockchain Hit Hardest.
