Finance Watch warns of online tactics designed to influence retail investors

Online design tactics can influence consumers and retail investors, including minors, to make decisions that may not be in their best interests, while making information about potential risks less prominent, Finance Watch has warned.

Influencers giving advice without adequate financial knowledge, trendy investment lists, pre-selected investment amounts and countdowns designed to create a sense of urgency, and prominent ‘buy’ buttons appearing on the screen are some of the common tactics identified by the non-profit organisation Finance Watch in a report about addictive and misleading online design patterns that it says can be detrimental to consumers and retail investors.

As retail investing becomes more accessible through social media platforms, civil society organisations and policymakers are increasingly looking at ways to protect people online, particularly vulnerable groups such as minors.

The organisation analysed the websites and apps of 24 banks, neobanks and trading platforms, as well as 59 financial influencers, known as ‘finfluencers’, on social media across Germany, Spain, Czechia and Hungary.

The report, published on Tuesday, identified repeated design patterns that Finance Watch says can steer investment choices or obscure information about product risks, including for minors.

"Potential returns were often emphasised, while information about risks was placed in less visible or collapsible sections," the report says, while calling on EU policymakers to introduce new legislation to restrict or ban such practices.

"The upcoming Digital Fairness Act is an opportunity to clean up, so that consumers choices reflect their needs and appetite for risk, not the profit interests of platforms and influencers," Finance Watch senior officer Peter Norwood said in a press statement.

The European Commission is expected to present the Digital Fairness Act before the end of the year, with the proposed legislation aimed at protecting consumers from potentially unfair or manipulative online practices.

The organisation also recommends tighter regulation of the activity of ‘finfluencers’, and calls for a ban on their promotion of retail investment products.

“On social media, finance influencers broadcast to vast audiences without credentials or demonstrable competence,” Finance Watch wrote in the report.

“Financial education is too important to become a disguise for advertising or unqualified advice,” the organisation added.

The European Union is also focusing on increasing financial literacy in the bloc, as limited financial knowledge has been identified as one of the obstacles to making Europe more competitive globally.

The European Commission is promoting a range of initiatives to help people develop financial skills, such as events and exchanges with stakeholders, while helping national authorities to organise initiatives on the ground.

According to a 2023 Eurobarometer survey, only 18% of EU citizens reported having a high level of financial literacy, potentially leaving some consumers less equipped to navigate financial products and services and identify risks, including online.