Fintech advertising is challenging the status quo

By the With Content Team

Emerging from the world of challenger banks and pay apps are a number of ads that have nothing to do with classic legacy banking values. Trust, reliability, protection – these safe trigger words are being boldly cast off by fintech companies seeking to rebrand the financial services industry.

Imagine sitting on the tube on the way to work or wandering to your local Pret in search of some lunchtime sustenance. Your eyes glance over an advert displaying the image of a bank card. Next to it is the caption “Sexier than your ex.” Braincells boot up and synapses begin to fire – this advert is for a bank!?

Indeed, the German bank N26 has embraced sexy bank ads – a far cry from Halifax’s unforgettable attempt to make Howard a ‘sex bomb’. Fellow challenger bank Starling has taken a different approach. One of their recent ads brazenly jokes about the popular attitude that banks are ‘out to get you’, whilst another gets straight to the point: We are a mobile only bank account. Revolut, on the other hand, has jumped on the narratives around vegan sausage rolls and drones to promote their brand, a space usually designated for Twitter warriors, not banks.

Breaking taboos to infiltrate the banking scene makes sense in a society still recovering from the 2008 financial crisis, and all those mis-sold PPI packages. Fintech advertising is rebranding a service that’s acquired more stigma in its centuries-old existence than you’ve had hot dinners, and it’s chosen a bold route. Of course, it’s not all about distancing fintech from the poor reputation of traditional banks. Fintech companies like N26, Starling and Monzo offer a genuinely new kind of banking, not based on trust and reliability, but on a seamless customer experience. It’s simple, slick, and dare we say, sexy?