The fintech sector only recently began to see consistent profitability. And it’s making a strategic pivot in its PR and comms.
Traditionally, fintechs have concentrated most of their communications efforts on attracting new users and building brand awareness.
But since many of these companies, such as Revolut, Monzo and Klarna, have now moved beyond the early start-up phase, they have started to focus on corporate narratives that demonstrate business maturity and long-term value creation.
There is one particular reason for this – in 2024, many have ramped up their efforts to prepare for an initial public offering (IPO).
Fintechs’ key comms strategies
When a company goes public through an IPO, it’s not just a financial event: it’s also a communications event.
An IPO is the moment to tell the world why a company matters — and telling the right story with the right messaging to the right people is crucial for a successful listing.
And this is not just a job for specialised financial PR pros. While a company’s financial advisers focus on dealing with potential investors and the sell-side analyst community directly, the job of the wider communications team is to focus on another highly influential factor – the mainstream media.
To understand how fintechs are building their corporate narratives ahead of IPOs, we analysed nearly 600 English-language articles published over the past 12 months in top-tier media outlets. Our analysis revealed that late-stage companies are focusing primarily on five main comms strategies:
- Communicating financial performance: As the fintech sector has only recently started to become truly profitable, companies like Klarna, Revolut, Zilch and Monzo have emphasised their ability to generate profits as a crucial element of their pre-IPO communications.
- Expanding products and services: To position themselves as growth companies ahead of their IPOs, players like Monzo developed new product offerings, while others like Klarna expanded into new markets.
- Regulatory compliance and licenses: Fintechs communicated regulatory approvals and licenses as a strategic move towards listing. Revolut obtaining a UK banking license was a prime example of this strategy.
- Securing strategic investments and debt financing: Securing major investments was another strategy to build strong confidence ahead of an IPO, with companies like Zilch and Nium focusing on their success in securing debt financing.
- Hiring industry leaders and expanding teams: Some companies like Zilch and Ripple appointed high-profile experts or expanded their workforce to demonstrate strong governance and organisational growth before going public.