What 2024 Taught Us: Key Communication Trends for Banks and Fintechs in the New Year
As 2025 approaches, banks, fintech and finance firms must adapt their communication strategies to face new trends and challenges. Transparent, proactive communication across diverse channels will be key for building trust and thriving in the evolving market.
By Valentina Drofa, financial market consultant the Co-Founder and CEO of Drofa Comms, an international PR consultancy specialising in financial and fintech sectors
The world of banking, finance and fintech is highly dynamic, and as we come closer to crossing into the year 2025, the trends that shape these markets are on the minds of many. This year alone, we’ve seen plenty of shake-ups, both positive and not so much: regulatory crackdowns, surging AI innovations, cybercriminals stepping up their game and so on.
These developments have brought both opportunities and challenges for companies in this field, especially in how they present themselves, communicate with their audiences, and build trust. When money is involved, earning people’s confidence is of paramount importance, and modern market realities demand modern approaches to public relations, because the stakes are high. How you communicate can make or break your brand’s reputation.
So let us take a closer look at the key trends that shaped banks, finance and fintech this year, and what lessons businesses can carry with them to succeed in the coming 2025.
Building Trust and Market Presence Through Personal Branding
There is a saying that "money loves silence", but in today’s fintech, that is no longer the case. Visibility equals credibility now, and the days when a low profile was an asset are behind us. Founders who establish a strong personal presence are better positioned to earn trust and attract strategic partnerships for their companies.
Take, for example, Sebastian Siemiatkowski, the CEO of Klarna: during the company’s layoff period, he openly spoke about their struggles and challenges while also emphasising his long-term vision and the firm’s resilience. This kind of candid approach helped paint a more "human" picture of Klarna and boosted public confidence.
For fintech leaders, building a personal brand can be a powerful tool in driving success, and to get there, they need transparent, authentic communication. I mention this because AI-generated content is everywhere these days, and every now and then, I see cases where company representatives try to shrug off communication matters with some quick comments made by AI.
However, when your goal is to genuinely connect with people, relying on automated scripts simply isn’t going to cut it. Human-written insights that provoke thoughts and feelings in their readers remain an irreplaceable aspect of communication because they can be felt. When leaders speak in their own voice, sharing unique perspectives, celebrating wins, and acknowledging lessons learned, that authenticity inevitably shines through. And it helps build trust because people can sense the real weight behind the words.
Embracing Alternative Media and New Formats
There is a common — and rather unfortunate — habit among financial companies to assume that issuing a generic press release here and there is all they need to satisfy their communication needs. That hasn’t been true for a long time, and it’s still not true today.
Setting aside traditional formats like expert opinion takes, podcasts and video content are gaining ground as the new staples of effective communication that allow fintech leaders to showcase their expertise.
Podcasts, in particular, have grown immensely popular: statistics show that in 2023, there were over 460 million listeners worldwide, and the figure is only expected to grow further. People listen to podcasts while multitasking or on the road, making them a perfect medium for storytelling.
So, the main takeaway here is: diversify your communication channels. It’s not just about getting your messages out there; you need to actually build engagement with your target audience, and to do that, you have to go to the same platforms as them.
Dig deeper:
- Bridging the Generational Gap: How Banks and CMOs Can Tackle Communication Challenges
- How Bank Marketers Should Use Storytelling in Internal Communications
- Every Brand a Bank: Why Starbucks and Walmart are Your Real Competition
Navigating Reputational Risks
In finance, crises are inevitable, whether it’s a cybersecurity breach, an unexpected level of scrutiny from regulators, or public backlash due to an operation error. Market reports outline all sorts of threats to fintech companies that have been prevalent throughout 2024. And yet, I find it baffling how often companies don’t plan ahead for these situations, seemingly thinking themselves beyond such risks.
Having proactive crisis communication plans is something that should be non-negotiable. How you respond in the event of force majeure can, at times, matter more than the crisis itself. And it’s too late to think about it when you are already neck-deep in "circumstances."
That’s why companies should identify potential risks well ahead of time and outline how to respond when something occurs. Whether you have an internal PR team or rely on partners to provide such services (and ideally, you should have at least one of those), the most important thing is to react swiftly. Silence during a crisis can make the problem worse, since speculations fly out of hand and you are not giving your side of the story to calm things down.
Transparency plays a crucial role here — acknowledging that there is an issue fosters credibility. And if you align your responses with your brand’s values and communicate with empathy and clarity, you can even turn a bad situation to your advantage, promoting your brand as one that cares about its clients.
Emerging Audiences and How to Engage Them
Fintech is not a sector that just old-school business professionals make use of; it has a broad, constantly expanding audience across the globe, and Gen Z is rapidly becoming a major part of that audience. This new generation is very tech-savvy and it engages with brands quite differently, preferring content that resonates with their values and lifestyles.
This partly connects to the points we’ve touched on earlier — about sharing authentic life stories and using alternative communication channels that are very popular among this crowd.
And it’s not just a question of communication channels, but also the products themselves: many of the latest fintech innovations are designed specifically for this audience. Monetization tools for creators, for example, resonate greatly with Gen Z, which eagerly makes use of digital platforms to earn income.
To gain the attention of this audience, fintech companies need to have a presence on the same information platforms — such as TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube —as well as media that caters to the interests of creators and youth culture. Relying on traditional financial media isn’t going to work here; you need to learn how to speak their language and produce content that this generation will find engaging.
Targeting Success in 2025
As fintech and finance companies step into the new year, their success will depend on how well they’ve been able to learn the lessons of 2024. Because the trends that will shape the coming year are going to be the natural continuation of what came before. By focusing on the things we’ve covered in this article and engaging their audiences effectively, companies can position themselves for greater growth in a highly-competitive landscape.
As you plan for the year ahead, remember: communication isn’t just about sharing information; it’s about building relationships and credibility, and doing so in a way that will last over a long time. That’s how your business makes meaningful progress, in 2025 and beyond.
