Last month, The Wall Street Journal noted that mainstream brands are increasingly borrowing Gen Z phrases such as “maxxing” and “mogging” although it largely focused on consumer marketing, from Marriott to Harry’s.
But a parallel trend is quietly emerging much closer to home. In the UK, challenger banks and fintechs have spent the past several years experimenting with the language, humour and cultural references that dominate Gen Z social feeds, embracing everything from “girl math” and meme culture to self-deprecating budgeting jokes and TikTok-native content.
The rationale is straightforward. Generation Z increasingly views social platforms not simply as communication channels but as primary sources of information, community and influence.
Nearly a decade ago, McKinsey described Gen Z as “a generation of digital natives who are highly adept at gathering information from multiple sources and integrating online and offline experiences”. However, its notion that younger consumers exert influence well beyond their own spending power, to shape broader consumption habits across age groups still holds true.
There is also a psychological dimension at work. Harvard Business Review found that authenticity ranks among Gen Z’s most important values and argues that younger consumers increasingly place trust in people and creators who feel relatable rather than in traditional institutional authority figures.
For marketers, this creates a dilemma. Financial services has always traded on trust, stability and expertise. Yet the next generation of customers increasingly responds to brands that feel human, culturally aware and capable of speaking their language.
That helps explain why fintech firms have become some of the sector’s most enthusiastic adopters of Gen Z communication styles.
The Monzo playbook
No British financial brand illustrates the trend better than Monzo. The challenger bank’s success has not merely been built on product innovation. It has also cultivated a social media presence that deliberately borrows from internet culture, memes and youth vernacular. Industry observers have highlighted Monzo’s use of phrases such as “hot girl budgeting” across social channels to make financial discussions feel more accessible and less intimidating for younger audiences.
Marketing commentators note that Monzo frequently embraces trending topics, humorous memes and TikTok-native formats that traditional banks might regard as too informal. The brand has built significant audiences on Instagram and TikTok through content that often resembles creator content more than corporate communications.
Perhaps the strongest indication of its cultural penetration is linguistic. Monzo has become one of the few financial brands to enter everyday vocabulary.
Writing in an analysis of the bank’s Gen Z appeal, communications consultancy Aspectus noted that the phrase “I’ll Monzo you” has become commonplace among younger consumers when sending money to friends. The article argues that Monzo has achieved something remarkable in banking: turning its brand name into a verb.
Campaign Middle East quoted Monzo vice-president of marketing AJ Coyne describing the firm’s distinctive coral card as a “secret weapon” in building brand recognition.
Combined with a highly conversational social strategy, the approach has helped Monzo position itself less as a traditional bank and more as a lifestyle brand that happens to offer banking services.
The temptation is to view Gen Z language as little more than a marketing gimmick but the deeper objective is identity signalling.
McKinsey’s research suggests Gen Z consumers place significant importance on individual expression and authenticity, while also demonstrating lower levels of attachment to traditional institutions than previous generations. Brands therefore compete not just on product attributes but on cultural relevance.
In practical terms, using the right language sends a signal that a brand understands its audience. The challenge is that there is a fine line between participating in culture and appearing to imitate it awkwardly.
HBR warns that Gen Z consumers are acutely sensitive to authenticity and can quickly identify when brands force themselves into trends without a genuine connection to the communities involved.
That may explain why the strongest performers in financial services are not necessarily the institutions using the most slang. Instead, they are the organisations that understand the cultural context around the language.
The limits of Gen Z-speak
Significantly, established banking giants have been far slower to follow.
While institutions such as HSBC, Barclays, Citi and JPMorgan have become more active on social platforms and increasingly embrace creator-led formats, they have rarely adopted Gen Z slang in customer-facing marketing.
This is all about reputation. A joke that misfires at a fast-food chain may attract some online criticism. A joke that misfires at a global bank could create questions around judgement, professionalism and trustworthiness.
This distinction is important because many of the internet trends now entering mainstream culture originate in online communities with complicated histories and associations. The “maxxing” phenomenon highlighted by The Wall Street Journal is a good example.
For a fintech targeting twenty-somethings on TikTok, cultural fluency is an asset but for a systemically important bank, it could be a risk.
The more interesting question is not whether financial brands will begin using terms such as “maxxing”, it is whether they will increasingly adopt the underlying mindset.
Personal finance is already full of optimisation culture. Young consumers routinely discuss maximising cashback rewards, stretching ISA allowances, stacking loyalty benefits and improving savings returns. In effect, they are already “money-maxxing”, even if brands avoid the terminology.
That suggests the future of financial marketing may belong not to companies that simply copy the latest slang, but to those that successfully translate internet culture into commercially relevant propositions.
The winners will likely be the ones that understand why the language resonates in the first place.