In our Q2 2025 Modern Investor Pulse, we asked investors a simple question: “What’s your main investment platform of choice?” 

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Their surprising response: current accounts.

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British and American investors prefer specialist investment platforms like Trading212 and Hargreaves Lansdown in the UK, and Charles Schwab and Fidelity in the US, but current account providers are still the third choice.

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In Asia, Interactive Brokers and StashAway were top-three choices, but came  behind current account providers, which were also the top choice for European modern investors, followed by Interactive Brokers and Trade Republic.

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Considering the number of competing investment platforms and retail banks now in the market, this should be a wake-up call to banks and brokers alike.

What this means for investing platforms

For investing platforms, this should be a cause for concern: banks are getting in on your turf.

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In the age-old battle between whether banks can innovate faster than fintechs can scale, this is a check mark in the banks' column. Many banks already offer ready-made investment funds or direct access to stocks, giving customers flexible entry points into investing based on their confidence and experience. And while these pre-made investing products might not be as sophisticated as what’s available on some investment platforms, it looks like it’s not a deal-breaker for modern investors. That, or they don’t feel confident enough using those more complex investment products. 

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Therefore, if you’re a platform with a wide range of investment products, it’s your job to help investors feel informed about what you have to offer.  Offering alternatives, crypto, leveraged trading, ETFs, commodities, and CFDs is no good if investors don’t know how they work or if they aren’t suited to their goals. 

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Data from the Q3 2025 Pulse showed that there is both an appetite for these more sophisticated products and a knowledge gap around them. When we asked investors, “Where do you want to invest but don’t feel like you know enough about?” 22% cited cryptocurrencies, with 21% saying alternatives. 23% expressed an interest in derivatives. 

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But this lack of confidence isn’t limited to the more complex investment products. According to the US Federal Reserve, 55% of US adults say they are not comfortable or only slightly comfortable choosing and managing investments. It’s not surprising, therefore, that many are opting for the ready-made investment products that their current account provider offers.

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To fill this gap, investment platforms need to provide more than just broking. Platforms that offer bundled services are now outcompeting single-product providers. Robinhood, which started with fee-free trading, now offers crypto, credit, and tokenised stocks. It also runs its own media platform. This kind of content strategy creates value beyond an additional revenue stream. It builds brand credibility and creates well-informed users willing to adopt more products.  

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Trading212 and Hargreaves Lansdown – which topped our survey – both have newsfeeds and insights sections in their apps and webpages that guide users through the basics of investing, and send expert investment research and ideas straight to their inbox. This education has a customer loyalty dividend: Everfi Research found that customers who are more financially educated are two times less likely to switch service providers.

What this means for banks

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For banks, it’s clear that investors value the ease of keeping their cash and investments close. In the arms race between banks and fintechs, it appears that many modern investors still prefer the comfort of traditional banks when it comes to investing significant amounts. Yet at the same time, banks risk losing investors who want to access more complex products that they don’t currently provide. This is especially the case for younger generations, RFI Global’s Macromonitor found that 23% of Gen Z and 17% of Millennials already only use fintech platforms for investing,

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So if you’re a bank without an investment offering – or without the resources to keep investors educated and engaged – you’re  potentially being left behind. 74% of retail investors say they would invest more with more opportunities to learn about investing.  Banks that provide these opportunities can increase their market share against the online trading platforms. 

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In the US and UK, some traditional banks are taking the fight to investing platforms by building out their educational offering, with structured learning to help their customers save, invest, and build wealth.

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Bank of America’s Better Money Habits programme, developed alongside Khan Academy, delivers short-form videos, goal-oriented planners, and interactive resources. This structured approach aimed at significantly boosting financial literacy directly translates into higher investment activity and customer retention. Its consumer investments recently surpassed $500 billion, and it has set its sights on $1 trillion. Similarly, Barclays’ Smart Investor research centre is focused on educating retail customers on UK-specific investment vehicles like ISAs and SIPPs with clear, easy-to-follow content including webinars, podcasts, and tax-wrapper guides.

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These programs are a great start, but there’s still a long way to go to increase confidence among some retail investors. The Investing and Saving Alliance found that more than 70% of those with large cash balances in cash ISAs or bank accounts in the UK had “never even considered” investing in a stocks and shares ISA. And basic financial literacy in the US has remained at just 50% in the last eight years, according to the P-Fin Index.

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With a majority of cash-rich savers not even considering investing, and many of those that are already investing choosing to do so within their current accounts, the potential upside for banks that successfully engage and educate their retail investors is huge.

How Finimize can help you compete with current accounts 

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Educated investors invest more and churn less. We can help you educate them and compete with current accounts and trading platforms alike. 

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Get in touch to see where you ranked in our survey, and how we can help you  break into the top tier.

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