The way consumers make financial decisions has officially changed. Long gone are the days when traditional search engines and physical banks are where people make the decisions about where to spend, save and invest their money. Today, financial trust and product discovery are being shaped entirely inside digital-first, creator-led ecosystems.
To map this shift, we’ve launched our first-ever Precisify Insights: Finance report. Leveraging our proprietary panel of 1,000 U.S. adults aged 18–55, including main household earners and those with strong family financial influence. The research uncovers exactly how they discover, research, and choose financial products and the influence platforms such as YouTube, social video, app-based banking, AI and creators have on this journey.
Download the full research here
Here are a few key takeaways finance brands and agencies need to know:
1. App-Based Banking is Fully Mainstream
Online-only and app-based banks have grown to actively rival traditional banking institutions, with 41% of U.S. adults utilizing them compared to 47% for traditional banks. This adoption remains remarkably consistent across generations, capturing 44% of 18–25 year-olds and 40% of the 46–55 demographic.
Travis Witteveen, Head of Products and Portfolio at Gen, whose family of trusted consumer brands includes MoneyLion, a leading financial technology platform says:
“As app-based banking becomes mainstream and more consumers turn to YouTube and social video for financial education, the opportunity for financial brands is to meet people with clear, trusted and useful content at the moments they are already learning, comparing and ready to act.”
2. YouTube Overtakes Traditional Finance Research & Advisors
The rest of the event dove deep into cutting-edge strategies for navigating this new reality.
Here’s an overview of the sessions and key takeaways that followed:
When starting research for a new financial product, YouTube overtakes Google Search as the first stop for main household earners in the US. The platform has become a primary destination for discovery with 40% of US adults watching influencer content about Self Improvement, Money and Careers every week.
Not only is YouTube the prime hub for discovery, it also is a trusted source of financial information and advice. 50% of U.S. adults explicitly prefer YouTube when consuming financial "how-to" content over any other medium, including TikTok (30%) or written articles (17%). With main household earners ranking the platform as number one for most trusted financial advice.
3. Reaching High-Intent Audiences Turns Awareness into Action
YouTube is a source of influence and action throughout the financial product discovery journey. High-intent viewers, including main household earners, turn to the platform before making key decisions such as making a new investment (35%) or selecting a new credit card (27%).
This intent translates into ad recall, with 37% of U.S. adults remembering ads they see on YouTube more than on other platforms. Top finance brands such as PayPal (29%), Chime (20%), and Capital One (16%) are winning this mindshare by appearing contextually alongside the content this audience engages with daily.
After watching finance videos, U.S. adults are actively downloading apps, opening new accounts, and taking direct financial action.
The Bottom Line for Finance Brands and Agencies
Video content on platforms like YouTube now play a key role in the financial decision making of adults in the US.
Travis Witteveen, Head of Products and Portfolio at Gen went on to say:
“The findings reinforce what we’re seeing across consumer finance: people are increasingly discovering, researching and validating financial products in digital-first environments before they ever arrive at a brand’s app or website”
Treating digital, creator-led video as a peripheral channel is no longer an option. Contextual, intent-based targeting is now the most effective way to reach high-intent consumers at the exact moment their financial decisions are actually being shaped.
Ready to dive deeper into the data? Download the full research here