To Drive Engagement with Financial Education, Lean into TikTok
Despite concerns about regulatory risk, financial institutions are missing a significant opportunity as nearly 80% of Millennials and Gen Z now turn to social platforms for financial guidance. TikTok users report gaining an average of 42 pieces of financial knowledge annually, with a 50% success rate when applying the platform's advice.
By Erinn Steffen, Executive VP, Operations at Mower
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For all the financial education and wellness content that banks and credit unions produce, the overall impression remains one of low engagement and limited impact. Much of it feels generic — well-meaning but bland in tone and forgettable in effect. This stands in sharp contrast to the kind of financial content thriving on short-form video platforms like TikTok, which continue to redefine what effective financial education looks like.
Yet many financial marketers shy away from TikTok. The challenge starts with financial institutions’ concerns about reputational and regulatory risk. Marketers often feel safer behind highly polished but generic visuals and language, forgetting that lack of differentiation and engagement carries its own risks. Meanwhile, the subject matter itself imposes hurdles, too: Taken on its own terms, financial advice can often be complex; it can stir up feelings of anxiety and avoidance; and its rewards can seem out of reach, because they almost always play out over the distant future.
For a financial institution to provide information to help people become more confident and prosperous is a powerful idea. But delivering on that promise can be hard. In fact, the very barriers to engagement — feelings of complexity, avoidance, and unattainability — help explain why short-form video has become such an effective medium for financial education. Its easy-to-consume, emotionally resonant, and unpolished storytelling directly addresses the reasons many people disengage from traditional financial learning.
In the process, TikTok — and short-form video generally — has transformed both how people learn about money and who they choose to learn it from. Gen Z, in particular, now uses these platforms as search engines, turning to creators for real-time answers, practical tips, and relatable advice. And they’re not alone; audiences across generations are gravitating toward the authenticity and immediacy of financial education on TikTok.
While data about financial content on social media remains a patchwork, a clear story is emerging. Nearly 80% of Millennials and Gen Z rely on social platforms for financial advice, according to a PYMNTS analysis; and Spruce reports that 68% of Gen Z are directly influenced by the financial content they consume online. As for short-form video specifically, a Talker Research study revealed that #FinTok followers, across all generations, gained an average of 42 pieces of financial knowledge in 2024 by scrolling TikTok — with Gen Z leading the way at 49 pieces of knowledge, followed by Millennials at 44 and Boomers at 32. Trust is emerging, too: In the Talker study, FinTok users reported a 50% success rate when they adopt the platform’s financial advice, and 68% said they have felt more financially secure since using it.
For banks and credit unions that have been holding back, now may be a good time to take a closer look at TikTok, as well as at your own library of assets. Regardless of your short-form video ambitions, a deeper dive can give you a clearer view of how your content might better serve your institutions’ goals. Here are five lessons to jump start your own learning process.
1. Relevance Beats Polish
Short-form video platforms reward content that speaks to the moment. Whether it’s tied to a trending topic, a seasonal financial task, or a frequently asked question, relevance drives both reach and resonance. Viewers gravitate toward content that answers their questions in real time, especially when it feels native to the platform’s conversational style. This emphasis on relevance gives financial institutions a way to compete for attention not through high production values and SNL-quality scriptwriting, but simply by tuning in more closely to what audiences are already searching for.
Fidelity Investments’ ongoing series of TikTok videos explaining fractional investing demonstrates this approach. The company chose to put a slice-of-pie analogy (not a pie chart, but actual pie) at the heart of the campaign. Produced at a quality level far below what a company of Fidelity’s scale could afford, the content focused on simplifying a concept that many first-time investors find confusing: You don’t need the whole pie to enjoy the pie. The metaphor landed. One video in the series drew more than 12.6 million views.
And the company has continued to build on the core concept — defining fractional investing with maximum simplicity — reiterating it through different influencers, including, for example, the “millionaire school teacher” Steve Chen, who posts as @calltoleap. The most effective content today doesn’t always look like a campaign; it looks like a conversation.
2. Teach One Thing at a Time
Short-form video rewards focus. FinTok’s most effective creators resist the urge to cover too much ground, instead zeroing in on a single concept, action, or takeaway. Teaching one thing at a time not only helps users get over their financial avoidance and fear, but it also makes for better content that’s watchable to the end. It reflects how people actually learn: not by fully grasping complex subject matter, but in small, applied doses. For financial marketers, this might mean choosing topics like “how to take the first step toward a savings goal” or “what does a credit score really measure” — and delivering that information without the usual layers of context and caveats.
BlackRock illustrated this principle in a TikTok video introducing the concept of asset classes. The format was tight: a quick explainer that broke down stocks, bonds, and alternatives in simple terms, without jargon or rabbit holes. The video did not oversimplify investing, but it did isolate one of its building blocks, delivering its message in under 60 seconds. Another BlackRok example: 3 Effective Strategies for Financial Independence.
UW Credit Union took a similarly focused approach with a TikTok series pegged to Financial Literacy Month. Each video highlighted one simple financial habit or skill — e.g., how to write a check — and explained it step-by-step with no distractions. Direct, actionable, self-contained, the content builds trust, not least because it makes good on its implicit promise to reduce complexity and fear.
3. Timing Is Everything
The best-performing financial content aligns with the rhythms of real life: tax season, student loan deadlines, back-to-school budgeting, or viral saving trends. When content surfaces just as a financial question or pain point arises, it feels less like a broadcast and more like a well-timed assist. For marketers, showing up at the right moment is one of the most effective ways to build credibility and trust. If a TikTok video shows up right when someone needs it, it stops being a distraction and starts becoming education.
BMO’s collaboration with Canadian rapper bbno$ is a standout example. The original track, “Bills Paid on Time,” dropped just before federal student loan payments resumed. It captured a moment when financial stress was running high for younger consumers. Instead of leaning into fear or urgency, the campaign’s vibe was one of celebration and joy. But its timing gave it resonance, connecting it to the exact financial reality their audience was facing. The song achieved over 5.5 million views across social media platforms within the first 12 hours of its release.
4. Emotion Builds Trust
On TikTok, the financial content that sticks often carries an emotional charge, tapping into feelings like vulnerability, relief, and pride. When creators talk about money in such personal terms, they invite the audience in. For financial marketers, this is fertile ground. Showing empathy, acknowledging life moments, or sharing real stories allows institutions to present not just what they know, but what they really provide and who they really serve. To be clear, the idea is not to tug on consumers’ heartstrings, but to show them you understand what’s at stake.
The creator Tori Dunlap, publishing on TikTok as @herfirst100k, has built a massive following by combining tactical financial advice with personal storytelling — and a clear point of view centered on the idea of individual fulfilment and independence. Her trademarked slogan, “Fight the patriarchy. Get rich,” signals a mission that goes well beyond budgeting tips. She shares her own wins and setbacks, talks candidly about fears around negotiating, and emphasizes the importance of perseverance. The tone is confident, conversational, and emotionally honest — exactly what turns financial content into a source of connection, and can align a brand with a movement.
5. All Roads Lead to Voice
In many ways, voice is built on the foundation of emotion. If emotional content builds trust by reflecting relatable feelings, voice starts from that core and builds outward. It establishes a persona — whether for the organization or for an individual — that the consumer perceives as real and that they can depend on to communicate and respond in a certain way. On TikTok, the identity and delivery of the messenger often matter more than the message itself. For marketers, attributes like believability and authenticity are not new concepts but they are easy to lose track of. TikTok reminds us that they are critical.
BMO’s TikTok presence spans multiple voices, each authentic on its own terms. The bank’s collaboration with Canadian Millennial influencer LeendaDong (@yoleendadong) contrasts with its work with bbno$. While the latter’s “Bills Paid on Time” campaign leaned on music and celebration to land its message, the student finance series featuring LeendaDong (examples here and here) draws on humor and relatable scenarios to engage viewers, making financial advice more accessible and less intimidating. The commercial message is specific (promoting BMO’s Student Line of Credit) but the credibility runs no less deep, drawing on her long-standing rapport with her audience — including 12 million followers on TikTok.
The bank doesn’t need to have a single voice so much as a coherent voice strategy. Banks and credit unions can work with different creators and tones — so long as they’re not flattening them into generic, brand-safe messaging. The bank’s voice, in BMO’s case, is defined more by who they choose to amplify and how generously they let that voice lead.
That same principle applies at a smaller scale to Educators Credit Union, which builds its voice strategy not through creator partnerships, but through the emotional sincerity of its own people. The credit union’s Financial Literacy Month series is almost entirely made up of direct-to-the-camera cameos featuring staffers and members, often very young, delivering financial wellness tips. Each post is a quiet gesture of care that reinforces the values of community, encouragement, and trust. Educators shows that even a small institution can be agile and credible on TikTok without sacrificing its professionalism. The voice is local, but the strategy is as intentional as any national campaign.
The most important lesson banks and credit unions should take away from TikTok is to keep one eye on the, er, big picture. To be sure, a short-form video strategy can, and likely should, play an important role in institutions’ financial education and wellness strategy. But more important are the larger lessons the format has to teach.
Relevance, clarity, an authentic voice … Qualities like these are essential for translating complex financial topics into clear, actionable content that enables your whole community to reach their goals, regardless of channel.
