From your FYP to your finances: How to use advice from finfluencers

Finfluencers are creators who use their platforms to share insights and advice and promote financial products. 

Open TikTok, and you’ll find them in seconds under #FinanceTok. They also appear on almost every channel you can think of, including Instagram, YouTube, podcasts, and even LinkedIn.

They make short, snappy and often inspirational videos that promise progression and ways to meet your goals.

They’ve become a default source for information for a scrolling generation, tired of listening to a ‘man in finance’.

The finfluencer approach is real and relatable. A sharp, confident friend, their money chat is easy to listen to. And motivational.

The thing is that finfluencers are served in the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) algorithm, too. The FCA hasn’t scrolled away. In fact, they’re watching and listening very closely.

Why are finfluencers popular?

Because they meet you in your money emotions. 

Money is emotional. It’s connected to goals, the things you really want in life, whether that’s houses, growing your family, travelling or something else.

When you have a money problem to solve, you want to talk to someone who gets it, who can boil it down to a few simple steps. Quick, stress-free fixes, please. Make it make sense!

That’s what finfluencers are so good at. They get where you’re coming from. 

They pick you up from the chaos of the money airport, where everyone’s rushing, overwhelmed, and just trying to get to the right gate, and take you where you need to go.

Their style is that money is approachable, fast, and sometimes quite exciting, in stark contrast to stale overdraft advice from the bank, dry mortgage talk from a broker, and how unrelatable your pensions advisor is. 

Finfluencers are there to catch your attention every single time you open social media.

The risks behind the reels

If someone is shouting: “Easy money!” on your feed, that’s a red flag. It would be in real life, and the same is true online. 

• Lots of finfluencers are trained and experienced, but not all
• Inexperienced finfluencers might not consciously give out bad advice; it’s just what’s worked for them
• An endorsement of a product, platform or service might be an advert. Have they disclosed whether it’s sponsored or not?

You can’t control whose voice you hear, but what you can control is your reaction to it. Do they actually know their stuff? How could you find out?

The psychology of persuasion

Finfluencers know how you click. They see your urgency, scarcity, FOMO. They meet you in your money emotions. 

The great finfluencers nurture you in these moments, using their experience and qualifications to help you get a good result.

The not-so-good finfluencers might rush you or put you under pressure to make a decision that might not be right for you. You won’t know how lucrative that decision might be for them. Think: is it the right thing to do in a hurry?

The risk is very real. The FCA is in hot pursuit of illegal, unauthorised finfluncers who blur the lines between financial education, entertainment and promotion.

How to spot a good finfluencer

Great finfluencers are credible. 

They share real experiences, advocate for financial education, tell you when they’re selling, and make managing your money empowering. 

They know their niche inside out, whether it’s helping military families, breaking down tax tips, or teaching the basics of budgeting.

Your finfluencer checklist

Stay engaged with the valuable content, and scroll past the dangerous stuff. How can you choose who to follow? Make curiosity your superpower.

• How credible are they? Have they got lived experience, or studied and have qualifications in finance?
• Are they transparent? Their partnerships, adverts or referral links are clearly labelled
• What’s their motivation? They’re either trying to help you make informed choices or sell you something. Can you find out which it is?
• Why are they in such a hurry? If you’re being asked to make a choice quickly, put the brakes on and do some research
• Where did they get their information from? Check if their video has data and information from reliable sources
• How big is the ask? Small steps make the most powerful progress. If they’re asking for your life savings to unlock money secrets, that’s a red flag

Finally, now that you’ve read this article, feel confident and trust your instincts. 

If their pitch feels too good to be true, if the answers are too easy and quick, it does no harm to be cautious. 

Stay curious, ask questions, feel amazing about your control.

Your feed, your future

Finfluencers are revolutionising how we get information about money. It’s education through entertainment. 

You deserve to understand your finances, and you deserve better support than financial institutions have traditionally given. Finluencers are the answer to that.

Their money content sticks, and that’s something to celebrate. But it’s not a substitute for personalised, regulated advice. 

Scroll, watch and learn, but switch on your critical thinking, too. Does the person dishing out the advice deserve your attention?

Every smart money move adds up, and small steps lead to the big, meaningful changes to your money life. Follow finfluencers who speak your language, or become a Loqbox member.

How does Loqbox work with influencers?

We work with members who also happen to be influencers. We pay them a fee in exchange for a review of our membership and an explanation of how it helps them to build their credit score. 

We ask them to disclose how we work together (with an ‘ad’ label, showing it’s a paid partnership), and our influencer collaborations always comply with FCA guidelines.