Gen Z learns about money from Instagram, YouTube: Entrepreneur asks banks to learn how to communicate with young people

Banks must earn Gen Z's trust as they increasingly learn about finance from content creators on platforms like Instagram and YouTube. Educating young customers early can establish meaningful relationships and trust, says Chandralekha MR, founder of Dime.

Banks may need to earn young customers’ trust before those customers start comparing financial products. That was the concern in a LinkedIn post by Chandralekha MR, founder of Dime.

She argues that Instagram and YouTube already influence how Gen Z understands money. Traditional banks risk leaving that learning process to content creators.

“Gen Z is already in the room,” she wrote. Her question is whether finance brands will join that conversation meaningfully or not.

“Young people are learning what to fear, buy, question, and trust through feeds. Finance is part of that, whether banks participate well or leave the conversation to creators, screenshots, and random opinions,” she wrote on LinkedIn.

“The large new-age finance companies understand this better. They publish education, opinions, founder content, explainers, and platform-native stories. Over time, the audience learns their language and recognises their point of view,” she added.

“Many traditional institutions still communicate as if the customer will patiently visit the website, read the product page, and build trust from formal information alone. That is a dangerous assumption,” she commented.

Several LinkedIn users supported her argument, especially the importance of building relationships early. One LinkedIn user said regular education could build trust before customers needed a product.

“Financial institutions that consistently educate where younger customers already spend their attention can build trust long before those customers are ready to buy a product,” the user wrote.

Another LinkedIn user suggested these relationships might start years before a purchase.

“A customer’s relationship with a financial brand may now start years before they actually buy a product from it. The brands that educate consistently today could have a very different customer acquisition,” the user wrote.

Responding, Chandralekha said brands educating customers early gain an advantage in attracting them later. She argued that conversations and simple explanations connect better than static product pages.

One LinkedIn user offered a distinction between rejecting banks and choosing accessible explanations. Young people might simply learn from whoever makes money understandable within their everyday social media feeds.

“The interesting part is that Gen Z isn’t necessarily avoiding traditional finance brands; they’re just learning from whoever explains money in a way that fits into their daily feed. Trust is being built long before someone is ready,” the user commented.

Another LinkedIn user highlighted how accurate information alone might fail to attract attention. “The gap is often translation,” the LinkedIn user wrote.

“Gen Z is learning money from creators before they’re learning it from banks. That shift is HUGE,” came from another user.

Sounak Mukhopadhyay covers trending news, sports and entertainment for LiveMint. His reporting focuses on fast-moving stories, box office performance, digital culture and major cricket developments. He combines real-time updates with clear context for everyday readers. Sounak brings newsroom experience across breaking news, explainers and long-form features. He has a strong emphasis on accuracy, verification and responsible storytelling. His work tracks audience behaviour, celebrity influence and the business of sport and cinema. He helps readers understand why a story matters beyond the headline. Sounak has contributed to widely read digital publications. He continues to build a body of journalism shaped by consistency, speed and editorial clarity. He is particularly interested in the intersection of media, popular culture and public conversation in contemporary India. At LiveMint, he writes daily coverage as well as analytical pieces that interpret numbers, trends and cultural moments in accessible language. His approach prioritises factual depth, balanced framing and reader trust. The reporting aligns with modern newsroom standards of transparency and credibility. Outside daily reporting, he explores storytelling across formats including podcasts, filmmaking and narrative non-fiction. Through his journalism, Sounak aims to document the rhythms of modern entertainment and sports while maintaining rigorous editorial integrity. Sounak continues to develop audience-focused journalism that connects speed with substance in a rapidly-changing information environment. His work seeks clarity, trust and lasting public value in every story he reports.