FinTech Ad Spending Climbs 45% in Last 3 Years

FinTechs are reportedly boosting marketing in bigger cities to attract a wider customer base.

In the last three years, ad spending by these companies has climbed by more than 45% on average, Bloomberg News reported Sunday (Jan. 5).

The 45% figure, the report said, comes from Outfront Media, an advertising company whose clients include several high-profile FinTechs, including CashApp, Klarna, PayPal and its peer-to-peer arm Venmo.

This spending growth, Bloomberg said, comes as FinTechs grow in popularity among users, with these companies setting the stage for potential acquisitions or initial public offerings (IPOs).

“For forever, FinTech companies were very aligned with digital-native businesses,” said Jeff Titterton, chief marketing officer at Stripe, which ventured into brand advertising for the first time in 2024.

“But what we’re seeing right now is that they’re taking on a broader purview. Their addressable market is continuing to grow, which is why you see us showing up in places where we might not have before.”

Another FinTech — corporate cards/expense management firm Brex — has also been spending more on advertising, the report added, shifting its focus to messaging aimed at businesses of all types and sizes, not just startups.

“Before I joined Brex, we never targeted the enterprise audience specifically in our out-of-home efforts,” said Scott Holden, who became the company’s chief marketing officer in 2023. “We really focused on using that medium to sell our corporate card to startups. Then when I joined, we launched our out-of-home messaging to be about Brex being a unified spend platform.”

The report noted that FinTechs are facing increased regulatory scrutiny, especially around their partnerships with banks and issues such as hidden fees. Last year saw the high-profile collapse of Synapse Financial Technologies, ushering in a wave of problems for its clients. There are also hopes, Bloomberg said, that this regulatory pressure could ease under the new Trump administration.

In other FinTech news, PYMNTS wrote last week about the way financial technology companies and credit unions (CUs) are transitioning from competitors to partners. With consumers increasingly demanding seamless banking increases, these companies are teaming up to improve efficiency and member experiences.

And in spite of challenges such as slow decision-making and incompatible systems, the PYMNTS Intelligence and Velera report “Dream Team: Credit Unions and FinTechs Partner to Deliver Financial Innovation” shows that these partnerships are mutually beneficial.

“Many FinTech companies now view credit unions as partners rather than competitors,” PYMNTS wrote. “According to the report, 66% of FinTechs see CUs as clients and 90% view them as collaborators. Additionally, 43% of FinTechs currently offer products to CUs, including self-service solutions and member experience enhancements, aligning with the rising demand for digital-first services and giving CUs a competitive edge over larger banks.”