Growing a finance & money brand
Nearly every US household has a bank account, and almost half of those bank mainly by phone. Reach them on LinkedIn and X, and expect strict rules for credit ads.
How big is the finance industry?
US finance and insurance firms employed 6.6 million people in September 2026, and 4,238 banks and savings institutions were FDIC-insured.
| Measure | Figure | Year |
|---|---|---|
| FDIC-insured banks and savings institutions | 4,238 | 2026 |
| Finance and insurance jobs, Sep 2026 | 6.6 million | 2026 |
| Households with a bank account | 95.8% | 2023 |
| Banked households using mobile banking most | 48.3% | 2023 |
| Personal financial advisor jobs | 299,400 | 2025 |
The bank count comes from the FDIC's Quarterly Banking Profile for the second quarter of 2026.[1, 2, 3, 6]
Who are finance customers?
Most US adults, 73%, said they were doing at least okay financially in late 2025. Young and lower-income adults were much less likely to say so.
| Group | Doing at least okay financially |
|---|---|
| Ages 18 to 29 | 63% |
| Ages 60 and older | 83% |
| Household income under $25,000 | 45% |
| Household income $100,000 or more | 91% |
The figures come from the Federal Reserve's Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking, run in October 2025.[7]
Which platforms should a finance brand grow on?
LinkedIn is the bigger of the two social platforms for a finance brand, reaching 31% of US adults to X's 18%.
LinkedIn also reaches 51% of college graduates and 45% of adults in households earning $100,000 or more. Meta shows credit and loan ads only to people 18 and over. In the US and Canada, those ads on Meta and Google can't target by age, gender or ZIP code. On the App Store, banking and crypto exchange apps must come from a legal entity, and loan apps can't charge over 36% APR. Plan Google Play, the .com and a trademark too; for domain endings and trademark classes, see naming a finance brand.[4, 5, 8, 9, 16, secondary]
Checks the .com, LinkedIn, X, App Store, Google Play and trademarks in one search.
Who are the top finance creators?
Vivian Tu, Erika Kullberg and James Dumoulin are on Forbes' 2026 list of top creators. TIME's 2025 list of the 100 most influential creators includes Tu and Hannah Williams.
| Creator | Known for | Named by |
|---|---|---|
| Vivian Tu | "Your Rich BFF": a former Wall Street trader's 90-second money explainers | Forbes Top Creators 2026 (opens in a new tab), #45; TIME100 Creators 2025 (opens in a new tab) |
| Erika Kullberg | Videos on saving money on bills; a former M&A lawyer with 21 million followers in 2026 | Forbes Top Creators 2026 (opens in a new tab), #40 |
| James Dumoulin | Face of The School of Hard Knockz, asking people for their hard-won money lessons | Forbes Top Creators 2026 (opens in a new tab), #37 |
| Hannah Williams | Salary Transparent Street, street interviews about jobs and pay | TIME100 Creators 2025 (opens in a new tab) |
Which sites are the authorities on finance?
The Federal Reserve, the FDIC, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and FINRA are the main authorities on US banking and consumer finance.
| Site | What it is | Use it for |
|---|---|---|
| Federal Reserve (opens in a new tab) | The central bank of the United States | Its yearly survey of household finances |
| FDIC (opens in a new tab) | An independent federal agency that insures bank deposits | Bank counts and its survey of unbanked households |
| Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (opens in a new tab) | The federal agency that enforces consumer financial law | Rules for credit, loans and payments |
| FINRA (opens in a new tab) | The self-regulatory organization for US broker-dealers | Rules that protect investors |
Sources (16)
- PrimaryFDIC: FDIC-Insured Institutions Reported Return on Assets of 1.37 Percent and Net Income of $90.1 Billion in Second Quarter 2026 (opens in a new tab), press release
- PrimaryUS Bureau of Labor Statistics: Finance and Insurance, NAICS 52 (opens in a new tab), all employees, seasonally adjusted, September 2026 (preliminary)
- PrimaryFDIC: 2023 National Survey of Unbanked and Underbanked Households, executive summary (opens in a new tab)
- PrimaryMeta: Financial and insurance products and services ad standards (opens in a new tab)
- PrimaryMeta for Developers: Special ad categories (opens in a new tab)
- PrimaryUS Bureau of Labor Statistics: Personal Financial Advisors (opens in a new tab), Occupational Outlook Handbook
- PrimaryFederal Reserve: Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2025, overall financial well-being (opens in a new tab), May 2026
- SecondaryPew Research Center: Social Media Fact Sheet (opens in a new tab), survey of US adults
- PrimaryApple: App Store Review Guidelines (opens in a new tab), 3.2.2(ix) and 5.1.1(ix)
- SecondaryForbes: Top Creators 2026 (archived copy) (opens in a new tab)
- SecondaryTIME100 Creators 2025 (opens in a new tab), profiles of Vivian Tu and Hannah Williams
- PrimaryFederal Reserve: About the Fed (opens in a new tab)
- PrimaryFDIC: What we do (opens in a new tab)
- PrimaryCFPB: The Bureau (opens in a new tab)
- PrimaryFINRA: About (opens in a new tab)
- PrimaryGoogle Ads: Personalized advertising policy (opens in a new tab), housing, employment and consumer finance in the US and Canada