Bankers at a conference complained that people get their finance advice from influencers now instead of them

• Bankers at a conference in Ireland expressed worry about finance influencers.
• One senior figure, Debbie Byrne, fretted that people are turning to internet creators for advice.

Bankers expressed worry about financial influencers on Monday, saying it was "frightening" how people were getting information about their money from TikTok.

According to the Irish Times, the subject came up at a conference on Monday in Dublin, Ireland.

Brian Hayes, head of the Banking & Payments Federation Ireland, there were "worrying signs" that the younger generation were not seeking advice from licensed professionals, per the Times.

"There are some worrying signs on investments, that a younger generation of investors are relying on advice from friends and family, or peers, or baseball players in the United States who allegedly know something about how to invest long-term," he said.

Debbie Byrne, managing director of the An Post postal service, concurred. "What we don't want is them getting their financial information on TikTok," she said. "That's exploded. I think that's really frightening."

(In Ireland and many European countries, postal services also offer finance products like savings accounts.)

Byrne complained that it wasn't just young people looking financial advice up on social media, but "it is extending right up to people in their 40s."

"There is clearly a gap that we as an industry have left if people are looking to influencers on TikTok with no financial or other kind of qualifications," she said. "So that's a gap we collectively need to fill."

In December 2022, financial experts told the Financial Times that influencers may be encouraging people to go for risky investments.

Some of their promotions "gamify" investing without clearly stating the potential risks, they said.

People were turning to social-media influencers rather than traditional financial advisors, FT writer Claer Barrett said, because advisors cost money and many firms don't offer services to people without a minimum net worth.

Also, while traditional firms tend to stick to lower risk investments, influencers offer something more exciting — high risk and higher potential reward.

While it's true that many influencers promote risky financial products like crypto or investing in individual stocks, there is also a boom in more modest financial advice.

As Insider has reported, more established creators such as financial guru Dave Ramsey are finding a new, younger audience on TikTok, as a new wave of personalities like the YouTuber Caleb Hammer are reaching people with tips on how to budget their way out of debt problems.