Finance is one of the most sensitive areas of human life. Therefore, most people trust their truly reliable companies. To gain this trust, financial institutions use third parties on whose behalf they publish expert content. In this article, we will tell you which types of content work best in fintech and why PR through third parties is more effective.
How much people trust banks in 2026
Until recently, financial institutions enjoyed high confidence – back in 2024, about 70% of Russians preferred non-cash payment methods. Now loyalty to banks has decreased – 45% of people use cash. This is due to both the increasing incidence of fraud and the general unstable situation.
The attitude towards banks was also affected by the blocking of accounts due to suspicious transfers, which began to occur more often. If in 2025 there were only 6 criteria, now there are twice as many of them. People do not fully understand how this process takes place, and are afraid that access to the account will be lost forever.
Therefore, it is especially important for financial institutions to maintain customer loyalty. Explain to them how the new requirements affect the work of the banking sector and what tools help fight fraudsters. Today, people do not trust the banking institution as a whole, but individual companies – those that have proven their reliability. One of the key ways to do this is to ensure a positive reputation in the information field.
How fintech companies can win over customers
Most often, financial institutions use direct advertising (contextual and targeted advertising, video marketing and email marketing), because its effectiveness can be assessed more accurately, or media publications from a company expert to show their reliability. However, they forget about the so-called social evidence – the reactions of third parties to a company or product.
People may have less confidence in first-person posts, as you can see ads here. In addition, such materials are always more difficult to coordinate with the editorial board of the media. The company’s experts usually cover only the positive aspects, causing the client to be more wary. There is a feeling that the company is hiding something – and this is very critical for such a sensitive area as finance.
If the recommendation comes from a third party, trust in the financial institution is higher. It is no coincidence that now almost all banks have introduced referral programs, since the cost of a client in this case is much lower than attraction through advertising.
Therefore, fintech companies should take care of such a component of PR as the opinion of third parties: partners, customers and even competitors with whom an objective review of the market can be made. In addition to increasing trust, customers and partners can highlight important details of interactions with the company that do not appear in ads or expert materials. People associate customers who wrote reviews with themselves. For example, they can read about a similar problem – and if it was resolved quickly and successfully in the review, then this increases the credibility of the fintech company.
What fintech companies publish on behalf of a client or partner
It is not so easy for a business to get feedback from a client – most often people write them when they experience strong emotions, positive or negative. This does not happen so often.
Therefore, fintech companies themselves should take the initiative when receiving feedback from both customers and partners. For example, contact a large client who has a PR department or specialist and ask for an interview or collect several success stories and publish them without naming the brand and showing relative indicators – not the number of investments attracted, but the approximate percentage of growth in incoming targeted appeals.
In what format can you publish materials from third parties:
- Cases are stories about how products have helped customers or companies solve a problem.
- Feedback and recommendations – it is better to ask for them immediately after a successful solution to the client’s problem.
- Expert columns and comments with examples from practice – for example, on behalf of a partner’s top manager.
- Influencer publications – when media persons post posts or articles on their own behalf, talking about the experience of interacting with the bank.
To get approval from a client to publish his case, fintech companies often have to adjust – for example, hide the brand or details of financial transactions. This is normal – the main thing is to reveal the essence of the case and emphasize the problem solved.
What mistakes fintech companies make in PR through third parties
In an effort to publish more positive content, many companies make mistakes that lead to a negative result. Here are the most common ones:
- Publication of non-existent stories. Perhaps this is the most gross mistake. Any story can be checked. If the company is caught cheating, it will cause negativity only.
- Unnecessarily selling content. If stories look too promotional, trust in them falls. It is important to highlight not only the positive result, but also the difficulties that arose on the way to achieving it.
- Lack of specifics. In client stories, it is important to show what the task was and how it was solved. If the client does not consent to the publication of sensitive data, it is important to outline the problem at least in general terms and show the difference in relative numbers.
- Incorrect site selection. You need to choose verified media for publication, which will be appreciated by both the partner on whose behalf you publish the material and the target audience. The placement of materials in unknown media or the “yellow press” will only raise questions.
To summarize, financial institutions should be very careful about publications – post only real stories, avoid overly advertising tone, choose a platform and publish materials not only on behalf of their own experts, but also from third parties who can natively promote the brand and increase the loyalty of the target audience of fintech companies.
As my experience shows, high-quality feedback can always be converted into sales, including using PR channels that allow to warm up the audience. Despite the high value of the error, fintech companies today continue to experiment with content and use different formats to increase audience loyalty.
By Grigory Ilyin, CEO of PR-agency “Glagol”