What the Bank of England Governor’s TikTok appearance means for banks

The news: The Bank of England (BOE) is using finfluencers to connect with younger generations who are skeptical of banking and heavily impacted by inflation, per Bloomberg.

This could inspire other central banks or financial regulators to use social media to spread certain messages to young consumers.

How we got here: BOE recognized that young consumers have been disproportionately impacted by rising costs, which has deepened their distrust of the banking sector. They’re also exposed to a lot of misinformation about personal finance on social media, which has led some to make irresponsible or even illegal decisions.

And because Gen Zers use social media as their primary source of news, BOE governor Andrew Bailey followed them there.

The strategy: Governor Bailey didn’t start a TikTok account, nor is BOE posting videos. Rather, Bailey was interviewed by finfluencer Abigail Foster (@abigailrosefoster), an unverified TikTok creator with just over 23,000 followers.

The video showed the governor sitting in a garden, wearing slightly more casual attire than usual, answering the young influencer’s questions about inflation, Taylor Swift, and why the BOE dropped the interest rate. 

• The original video garnered over 43,000 views and 730 likes, and the creator has since posted some shorter  excerpts from the interview.

What this means for banks: This move represents a cautious step into Gen Zers’ home base by government entities. But it could start a trend for central banks, regulators, and other organizations that want to spread certain messages to consumers and are looking beyond traditional media channels.

For example, UK banking customers still don’t fully understand open banking—partly because the government and FIs didn’t run a successful awareness campaign. 

• Going forward, social media interviews with influencers could become an important component of public campaigns.

Key takeaways: If this appearance pays off, Bailey could participate in more interviews with finfluencers—but he will likely also inspire prominent figures at financial regulators and central banks around the world that want to dispel misinformation, improve financial literacy, and sway public opinion.

This interview could also be a glimpse into financial regulators’ future advocacy tactics for reaching consumers, which they could use to fight back against lobbies that have recently pushed hard and successfully against regulatory proposals they view as burdensome.