How banks, fintechs and finance apps in Brazil use UGC, the trust stakes and the formats that work.
Why UGC works for finance in Brazil
Six reasons specific to the market.
Adoption of digital financial services is very wide, including among audiences long excluded from banking.
Banks' official vocabulary remains opaque, and an ordinary explanation is worth more than a brochure.
Mistrust is high, which makes a real face more effective than an institutional promise.
The products are invisible: nothing can be shown in a photo, everything goes through speech and screen.
Recommendation between friends is the sector's first acquisition channel.
And competition is very strong, so clarity becomes an advantage rather than an extra.
How banks, fintechs and finance apps use UGC
Six uses, from most common to rarest.
The explanation of a precise feature, the most ordered format.
The comparison with how it used to be done, without naming a competitor.
The account-opening journey, filmed on a demonstration account.
The answer to a security objection, the most frequent in comments.
Testimony of professional use: a shopkeeper, a freelancer, an online seller.
And general education, which builds trust without selling directly.
The formats that perform in finance
Seven formats, ranked by effect.
The commented screen demonstration, with fictitious data.
The question format, where the creator asks what everybody is wondering.
The explanation of a technical term in thirty seconds.
The complete journey of an operation, from start to confirmation.
The answer to comments, particularly effective in this sector.
Testimony of a real daily use, with no figures.
And the security format: how to recognise a fraud attempt, much-shared content.
Trust and compliance: the rules of the game
Clearly flag paid partnerships
Identifying a commercial communication is an obligation, and it counts double in a sector where trust is the product. The exact arrangements are checked with the competent authorities.
Never promise returns
No gain figure, no projection, no wording implying a guaranteed result. It is the sector's most watched line, and the one that exposes creator and brand most.
Respect the boundary of investment advice
Explaining how a product works is not advising to buy it. As soon as a sentence recommends a personal financial decision, it falls under a regulated activity, whose conditions are checked with the competent authorities.
Be exact about credit
Any mention of credit, rate or term obeys precise information rules. Nothing is improvised, and authorised wordings must appear in the brief.
Protect personal data
Dealt with above. That applies to your own data as much as to that of a third party appearing on screen or in a document.
What can be shown on a financial app screen
| Element | What is possible | What is forbidden |
|---|---|---|
| Opening an account | The journey, on a test account | Real data |
| The dashboard | A neutral interface | A balance, a name, a number |
| An operation | The gesture and the confirmation screen | A legible identifier |
What is prepared before filming
A demo account provided by the brand, with fictional data. Filming your own account exposes personal information that stays legible on a paused frame.
What is never said in a video
A return, a capital guarantee, investment advice or a figure comparison. Those fall under a regulated framework and are confirmed with the competent authority and a lawyer before release.
Building a lasting finance UGC programme
Six steps for a brand.
Build a reusable demonstration account, with coherent fictitious data.
Write a closed list of authorised wordings and a list of explicit prohibitions.
Select creators able to hold that constraint, and keep them.
Have every script read before shooting by the person responsible for compliance.
Provide a fallback version already approved, usable if the first is refused.
And measure account openings or real usage, never views.
One last marker: in Brazilian finance, UGC does not sell a product, it makes a service understandable. A video explaining a function clearly without promising anything converts better than an enthusiastic one, and it stays publishable for months, which the second does not.
Sources
Checked on 27 August 2026. Thresholds and rates change: where this guide and the official source disagree, the official source is right.
