Microcopy That Builds Trust: Fintech UX Tactics for CMOs

Small words matter in fintech marketing, and a well-thought-out microcopy can help you build trust and significantly reduce anxiety that’s inevitable when making key financial actions. 

Just consider a fintech platform where users can apply for a loan or transfer a large sum in one go. The site might look great, but if the wording is wrong, it can lead to a lot of hesitation. This creates a trust gap that banks have had issues with for ages in the physical world, and now fintech businesses keep running into the same problem in the digital one. 

Skepticism is normal for every fintech platform user, which is why it’s so important to have powerful microcopy that bridges the gap and significantly increases your conversion and retention rates. 

Key Impacts of a Fintech Microcopy

Design is supported by proper wording. Without a good microcopy, it’s just an empty shell. A flashy one, that’s true, but empty nonetheless. It’s why many fintechs put a lot of effort into the wording they use. 

You must be clear with every word. This clarity tells users exactly what to do next, and this usually significantly eases tension. 

Just consider the fact that fintech apps can lose up to 60% of users in onboarding, and a big part of that comes from bad wording that doesn’t elicit trust, not just the perceived complexity that’s usually the biggest culprit. 

With specific, empathetic, transparent, predictable, and action-focused microcopy, you can significantly improve your users' experience. This will increase trust and confidence, in turn leading to higher conversion and retention rates. 

But exactly how do you achieve this? Let’s take a closer look at some excellent UX tactics you can use.

1. Humanize Errors and Add Solutions

Errors are typically a mild or a major annoyance, but in fintech, they can feel very serious. That’s why it’s crucial to do whatever you can to make them less detrimental. 

To achieve that, the goal is to replace technical, discouraging jargon with calm, specific language that’s oriented toward solutions whenever possible. 

The most important thing to do here, if the error concerns money or transactions, is to explain that the funds are safe. Instead of the error being “Transaction failed”, turn it into “Unfortunately, we weren’t able to send your money. No funds were deducted from your account. Please try later.”

When explaining errors, it’s best to blame the system, not the user. Blaming the user only makes them feel defensive and isn’t helpful. 

To make things simpler, you can use the following process in the microcopy:

• Explain in plain language what happened. 
• Give a brief context as to why the error happened, if it’s helpful to the user. 
• Give immediate reassurance that the user’s funds or data are safe. 
• Provide instructions on how to fix the problem or what to do next. 

Your writers can follow this pattern for most errors, while the right full-service finance website agencies know exactly how to implement this throughout your site.

2. Practice Complete Transparency

Being fully, radically transparent is about proactively answering the questions users subconsciously ask because they are wary of anything to do with money or their personal details. Not being fully transparent is one of the main reasons why fintech businesses fail to build trust. 

So, the goal is to ease this tension even before it appears, and you can do that by offering immediate justification for anything sensitive your fintech app asks.

Your platform should always explain why it’s asking for something, preferably even before it asks. For instance, if your app needs to ask for the user’s location, add a simple copy explaining the importance of sharing location to prevent fraud. It should appear immediately before the app asks for the user’s location.

If you need to charge fees on transactions, it’s best to be fully transparent about them. Nobody likes to see a surprise fee at the final step of a transaction. It’s better to show a cost calculation beforehand and use wording that conveys the amount they need to pay is exact. 

For instance, add a microcopy like “The total cost to you is…”. This eliminates the possibility of a hidden fee later on, so the user can feel safe. 

3. Make Positive Friction

Speed is generally a positive thing, but that can’t always be said in fintech. What’s more, here, it can look like negligence. 

It’s important to strategically place barriers that slow down the user's experience, especially in high-stakes situations. 

For instance, with transfers, your platform shouldn’t offer a single-click send and immediate transfer processing. It’s much safer for the user to have a review screen that requires them to confirm specific details. 

If your site takes a while to create a report or load content, add a short animation with reassuring text. This is called the Labor Illusion because users feel that work is being done, even if it’s the system doing it in the background. 

With 2FA, which is effectively a must today, you can turn it into a special security measure, all to make it less annoying. In other words, you can embellish the wording behind the whole process. 

However, bear in mind that some situations, like logging in and checking a balance, still require speed, so it’s important to remove any friction there.

4. Take Advantage of Security Badges

The practice of providing security reassurances in areas where user anxiety typically occurs is often called security anchoring. In other words, you should use security badges everywhere they can provide a sense of safety to users, not just in your site’s footer or on a separate security page. It’s part of the best tactics you can use in fintech website architecture. 

Whenever a user needs to enter sensitive information, like their SSN, you should place a security reassurance message nearby. If it isn’t near enough, the user isn’t likely to associate it with the data entry field. 

If your business is still new, users won’t be ready to trust you. However, if you add partner logos from established partners, that trust will very likely increase. 

Simple text normally works in microcopy, but not when it comes to security. It’s better to ditch generic terms like “Safe” and use more complex, reassuring ones, like “AES-256.”

If you allow users to log in via TouchID or FaceID, it’s better to frame this as a security upgrade rather than just a convenience. 

Additional Valuable Fintech UX Tactics for Improving Microcopy

We have a lot of advice to give you if you want to improve your microcopy, so here are a few bonus tips that deserve to be mentioned:

• Be more specific with timeframes. Instead of saying “in 3–4 business days,” say “by Friday, Nov 28.”
• Use honest, anti-spam wording. If you want users to sign up to your newsletter, add a simple disclaimer like “We also hate spam, so don’t worry, we’ll send only important updates, never ads.” 
• Say that there are no hidden costs instead of saying nothing. If a user can’t find information on added costs or fees, they’ll likely assume that something is hidden, so it’s better to specifically mention that there are no hidden costs or even say the “cost is $0.00.“
• Use language that forces the user to stop instead of advising it. Tell them to stop and read the fine print before continuing, rather than making a suggestion, which is something that users typically skip. 
• Never say “Pending”. No one wants to see this word in connection to transactions, so it’s better to be more descriptive and more specific instead, like “Verifying.”
• Use recent activity tickers. By stating that there has been recent activity, the same one the user is looking to perform, you create a sense of urgency, and you can elicit the feeling of FOMO in the user. 

Bottom Line

As you can see, when done right, a good microcopy can be instrumental in building trust in your brand, something that’s critical for fintech businesses. Naturally, it goes hand in hand with good design, as the two are part of the same coin. 

If you need help in creating a site that elicits trust through great design and microcopy, Flow Ninja is your answer. We help fintech businesses launch a modern, scalable, and secure website, so reach out to us to see what we can do for you. 

FAQs