The study, which saw 2,000 UK consumers take part, was conducted during what could be seen as a prosperous period for fintech in the UK, with the country attracting more investment than China and the US in the first half of 2018.

But according to the TopLine Comms report, many choose not to trust the sector for a few reasons; just under a third (27%) cited a lack of understanding of it in comparison to traditional banks, while 22% referred to the lack of physical locations within which consumers can seek assistance if needed.

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In terms of those who do use fintech of some kind, 61% stated that they would only feel comfortable with depositing £500 of their own money in a mobile-only bank account.

87%, meanwhile, trusted that their money was safe with their current bank. This comes just five years after Governor of the Bank of England Mark Carney warned that lack of public confidence in banks was holding back economic recovery.

More Promotion and Education Needed

Online payment service provider Checkout.com’s SVP marketing, Kimling Lam, said: “Fintech needs to do more to promote itself and educate consumers on services and their advantages.

“Undoubtedly it is a thriving industry, particularly in London, but it’s up to the industry as a whole to show people that technological innovation is the future of financial services and that associated companies are more than capable of gaining consumers’ trust.

“Fintech marketers must focus primarily on clearly communicating the benefits of their services to end-users, and less on jargon-filled promotion of their company as a whole.”

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Additionally, Luke Budka, a TopLine Comms director, said that the potential that fintech has does not resonate with UK consumers.

“They simply don’t view fintechs as a viable alternative to traditional banks – yet,” Budka explained. “Fintech as a consumer facing industry is relatively new, so it’s natural that consumers are less aware of new digital businesses.

“Stand-out fintechs, like Monzo, have done exceptionally well building their brands over the past few years, but evidently there is still a lot of work to be done to increase consumer confidence.

“There is huge potential for these companies, provided they get their messaging right and work at making themselves the new norm.”