Brussels is encouraging Europeans to put more of their savings into capital markets. But a new study warns that the digital environment awaiting them is full of nudges, addictive design and financial influencers whose interests are not always clear.
A new Finance Watch report argues that consumers entering the investment market face an online environment where design, recommendation systems or short videos influence what they buy and how much risk they take. The report believes online practices can “steer consumers towards decisions that are in the profit-maximizing interest of the firm but not necessarily in the interest of the consumer”.
“Consumers seeking to invest online are confronted by a maze of dark patterns and dubious guidance on social media,” Peter Norwood, Senior Research and Advocacy Officer at Finance Watch, said. “If the EU wants more retail investors, it must close the gaps in the law and give them a marketplace they can trust,” he added.
Consumers seeking to invest online are confronted by a maze of dark patterns and dubious guidance on social media. — Peter Norwood, Finance Watch
Meanwhile, the European Commission is trying to bring more household savings into investment. Instruments like the Savings and Investments Union aim to increase citizens’ participation in capital markets.
The online tricks shaping investment choices
More than half of the finfluencer (financial influencers) posts reviewed by Finance Watch were presented as educational content. Yet none of the 15 creators examined was identified as holding a formal licence or credential.
Besides, researchers identified 19 cases of misleading or unverified expert opinions. In one example, a platform displayed investment ideas linked to Warren Buffett and Bill Gates, even though the products’ connection to them was loose.
Moreover, the commercial relationship between influencers and a financial services provider was considered difficult to identify in one third of cases.
Risk warnings were another weak point. Up to 58 per cent of the posts analysed were judged to provide poor information about investment risks. On TikTok, 19 of the 20 videos reviewed fell into that category.
But the problem was not limited to social media. Researchers also looked at how banks and trading platforms present investment choices. They found 40 cases where certain options were made more prominent by labels such as “most traded” or “top movers”. Finance Watch believes those terms can steer users towards particular products.
The same concern applies to features designed to keep users engaged. Live performance updates, constantly refreshing prices and percentage changes. According to Finance Watch, repeated alerts can encourage investors to react quickly instead of taking time to consider the risks.
From design tricks to younger users
The study also raises concerns about who is being reached by this content. Some of the posts reviewed were directed at minors. For example, one video explained how a 15-year-old could invest through a custodial account. Another advised an underage viewer to ask a parent or guardian to open an investment account in the adult’s name.
If the EU wants more retail investors, it must close the gaps in the law and give them a marketplace they can trust. — Peter Norwood, Finance Watch
That finding lands at a sensitive moment in Brussels. The European Commission proposed its new KIDS Act. The initiative looks at restricting access to social media for younger users. Also, it requires platforms to demonstrate that their services are age-appropriate.
The Commission has also said children need stronger protection from influencer marketing. In a survey published in July, 69 per cent of children said influencers should only promote products to children when those products are safe and appropriate. Almost half called for rules against addictive design.
A job for the Digital Fairness Act?
To Mr Norwood, “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”.
In her 2026 State of the Union address, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the Digital Fairness Act would be proposed this autumn, explicitly identifying addictive design as a problem the wider framework should address.
In April, the European Parliament adopted a report on financial literacy and the rise of finfluencers. The resolution called for minimum standards around financial communications on social media and stronger financial and digital literacy.
The rapporteur MEP Lídia Pereira (EPP/PRT) told EU Perspectives earlier this year: “We are no longer talking only about misleading promotions; we are talking about industrial-scale scams that exploit the trust people place in familiar online faces.”
Finance Watch research covered 24 banks and trading platforms and 15 finfluencers in Germany, Spain, Czechia and Hungary. Researchers examined 59 pieces of content on YouTube, TikTok and Instagram between April and June 2026.
