Young people want more guidance from financial services firms

Forty-seven percent of young people say their financial services providers should be responsible for providing them with sound financial guidance and education.

Nine out of 10 (90%) 18–30-year-olds say they want more guidance when it comes to managing their money, according to the latest findings from the Young Money report by reputation management consultancy MRM.

The importance of financial services in young people’s financial education outweighs their own belief in personal responsibility (36%), with 41% of respondents stating that they would seek guidance from their families.

When asked about the sources they use to get financial information from, social media was by far the most popular destination with nearly half of respondents (45%) citing it.

A third (33%) also highlighted direct communications from their financial service providers either by email (33%) or in-app messages (29%).

More traditional media outlets such as broadsheet newspapers (24%) and television (23%) were mentioned by around a quarter of those surveyed.

A large part of this rise in social-media interaction can be attributed to ‘finfluencers’ – those with a large following who give financial advice or guidance.

Six in 10 (59%) say they follow finfluencers, growing to 74% among the young Londoners surveyed.

Only 3% of respondents said they didn’t trust finfluencer information, while a substantial 77% do.

Those figures remain consistent with the findings of the 2022 Young Money Report, which were previously quoted by the FCA when it proposed tougher rules on social-media promotions in July 2023.

Almost the same proportion of young people said then that they followed finfluencers (62%) and trusted what they say (74%).

MRM said the findings show that social media continues to hold sway in the modern financial landscape, especially considering one in seven (14%) of young people would take financial action based purely on what they had seen from an influencer online.

Despite the tough economic climate, young people in the UK are optimistic about their financial future, with nearly two-thirds (63%) expecting their standard of living to increase in the next 12 months.

Chris Tuite, director and head of consumer finance at MRM, said: “The message delivered by young people in the UK couldn’t be clearer. They want financial services firms to step up and regain their influence. They say they need real, reliable financial guidance, and they expect financial services firms to provide it.

“The key question financial services providers must grapple with is how to do that. Our data shows these firms are largely present on social channels but are not able to garner the same attention as this new breed of finfluencers.

“The FCA is clearly signalling its intention to clear up any grey areas, but the industry also has an opportunity to give young people what they want. They need to start creating the kind of social content that will deliver, and crucially, focus on guidance more than gamification or instant gratification.”