Brazil has become one of the most closely watched fintech markets in the world. Digital banks compete for millions of customers, Pix turned instant payments into a daily habit, and an entire generation now manages money from a phone. For financial brands, this creates a very specific challenge: convincing people to trust an app with their salary, their savings and their card. User generated content, or UGC, has become one of the most effective tools for building that trust, because it shows real people using a product instead of a corporation talking about itself.

Why UGC fits finance in Brazil

Finance is a high trust category. Downloading a game costs nothing emotionally, but opening an account or investing through an app requires a leap of faith. Traditional advertising struggles here, because polished campaigns are exactly what skeptical consumers tend to discount.

UGC works differently. When a creator films themselves opening an account, sending a Pix or explaining how they organize a monthly budget, viewers see a believable experience from someone who feels like them. In a country where banking historically felt bureaucratic and expensive, that relatability matters. The growth of Brazilian digital banks was fueled in large part by word of mouth, and UGC is essentially word of mouth with structure and repeatability behind it.

There is also a cultural factor. Brazilians are heavy consumers of short social video and very active commenters. Financial content in Portuguese, made by local creators who understand boletos, parcelamento and the reality of informal income, lands in a way that translated global campaigns never will.

How banks, fintechs and finance apps use UGC

Financial brands in Brazil apply UGC across the whole funnel:

Onboarding walkthroughs

Screen recordings mixed with face to camera commentary, showing how to open an account, activate a card or register a Pix key.

Feature education

Short videos explaining one feature at a time: automatic savings, cashback, credit limit management, investment tabs.

Testimonial style ads

Creators sharing why they switched apps or how a feature solved a concrete problem, then used as paid social creative.

Financial education content

Budgeting tips, debt payoff routines and saving habits where the app appears naturally as the tool, not as the hero.

Always on social proof

Authentic clips repurposed for landing pages, app store listings and retargeting ads.

The common thread is simple: the product is shown in real use, on a real screen, narrated in everyday Portuguese.

Formats that perform for finance

Short vertical video is the core format, built for TikTok, Reels and Shorts. Within that, a few structures come up again and again. The screen capture tutorial with a voiceover answers the practical question "how does this actually work". The face to camera story ("why I moved my salary to a digital account") builds emotional trust. The myth busting video ("is it safe to keep money in a fintech") addresses objections head on. And the routine video ("how I organize my money every month") integrates the app into a lifestyle rather than pitching it.

For finance specifically, clarity beats entertainment. A calm, well paced explanation with readable on screen text usually outperforms a heavily edited hype video, because the viewer is evaluating credibility, not just enjoying content.

Trust and compliance: the rules of the game

Finance is a regulated industry, and UGC campaigns must be designed with that reality in mind. A few principles every brand and creator should respect in Brazil:

Disclose paid partnerships clearly

Brazilian advertising self regulation requires that sponsored content be identifiable as advertising. Hidden ads destroy the very trust UGC is meant to build.

Never promise returns

Content about investment products must avoid guarantees of profit or misleading performance claims.

Respect the line on investment advice

Recommending specific securities is a regulated activity overseen by the CVM. Creators without the proper certification should stick to education and personal experience, not personalized recommendations.

Be accurate about credit

Videos about loans, cards or installment plans should not hide costs or present credit as free money.

Protect personal data

Under the LGPD, real balances, account numbers and personal details should never appear on screen. Use demo accounts or blur sensitive information.

Serious brands review scripts before filming, provide an approved claims list, and keep a record of what was published. Serious creators welcome that process, because it protects them too.

Building a finance UGC program that lasts

Start small: brief two or three creators who genuinely use your product, test different angles against real objections, and scale what earns comments like "I did not know the app could do that". Prioritize creators who can explain, not just perform. For a full walkthrough of briefing, pricing and usage rights, read our complete guide to UGC for brands at /blog/ugc-complete-guide-brands.

Finance in Brazil is won on trust, and trust is built by real voices. UGC gives banks, fintechs and finance apps a way to borrow that credibility honestly, one authentic video at a time.

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Sources

Checked on 27 August 2026. Thresholds and rates change: where this guide and the official source disagree, the official source is right.