Is Fintech Neglecting the Creator Economy?

The creator economy has seen an impressive surge of investment in recent years. In 2023 alone, this sector was valued at around $100B, and by Q4 2024, this figure has more than doubled, reaching $250 billion. 

However, while new projects keep coming up all the time, recent reports show that most of them are focused on the front end of creators’ activities. In other words, on the content creation itself. This still leaves a considerable gap in the back-end areas, such as monetization and financial management. Creators need more specialized fintech tools, but traditional finance doesn’t seem to recognize this need. 

So, is the tech industry overlooking a crucial part of the creator economy? And if so, why? Well, let’s try to figure it out.

Why Aren’t There More Fintech Tools for Creators?

The first thing to point out here is that the creator economy often brings with it somewhat unique financial needs that traditional systems aren’t really built to handle. The income of creators is often inconsistent, since it comes from a mix of sources: sponsorships, ad revenue, platform payments, etc. This means they have to face various challenges in terms of managing taxes and handling cross-border payments from different countries and sources. 

Traditional financial tools are often too rigid and can’t adapt well to such needs, which makes it hard for creators to find suitable payment options in the banking sector. And on the other hand, building specialized fintech tools that can fit these requirements is complex, so the whole process gets slowed down further.

At the same time, though, I should mention that the level of demand for more sophisticated financial tools in the creator industry remains unclear. For fintech startups, growth often comes hand-in-hand with launching products that can scale quickly and that would have a broad user base. And at the present time, the needs of creators may still not appear big enough to stand out among other markets in fintech. As a result, satisfying this need is not a priority for new startups.

In order to be successful in this area, a business would need to devote a lot of time and effort to figure out how creators manage their workflows and income. Not every company is eager to jump into what is seen as a “niche” field, when there are other, more lucrative possibilities on the table.

Lastly, one other reason why we’re not seeing a boom in creator-specific fintech tools is because most of the focus in this sector so far has been on content platforms themselves. As I already mentioned in the beginning, the bigger portion of investments over the past years has gone into building high-visibility platforms where creators can produce and share their content. The obvious goal here was to fuel the creator ecosystem as a whole; to bring more attention to it and help it grow.

As a result, solutions that focus on financial management have been left at the backburner for a long time. They don’t provide the instant, high-traction results that investors and companies often look for, and so they were not prioritized.

Bridging the Gap

Now, given everything we’ve covered so far, the question remains: what can be done to start fixing this gap in the creator economy’s support? The most straightforward answer is that fintech companies need to invest in understanding this sector beyond just content creation.

One promising approach would be for fintech to team up with popular platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and Patreon, where creators spend much of their time. By building financial tools right into these platforms, creators could manage their finances in a familiar environment, making things a lot simpler for them.

Another important thing is for fintechs to develop tools flexible enough to handle irregular revenue that’s the norm for creators. For example, a comprehensive dashboard would be a great addition, allowing creators to see all their income sources, estimate taxes, and even track savings automatically – and to do all of that in the same place.

We also need to keep in mind that many creators don’t have any kind of formal background in finance or business management, so their financial knowledge is likely to have gaps in it. This is another way for fintech to help – by offering advisory services and financial literacy education tailored to the needs of this community. Things like budgeting tips and tax services would allow creators to avoid any costly mistakes.

Another big challenge to address is how creators interact with traditional banks, which are often reluctant to offer loans because (as we’ve covered before) creators’ income can be erratic. Fintech could step in here by finding new ways to evaluate a creator’s creditworthiness.

For example, instead of relying on traditional credit scores, social metrics like audience engagement on platforms could be considered. This approach would give a more accurate picture of a creator’s financial stability and make it easier for them to get access to the financial products they need.

Growth Opportunities for Fintech to Seize

Looking into the future, the creator economy is only going to pick up the pace of its development. And so, the need for better financial tools is also going to keep growing. With stronger financial support, creators could focus more fully on their work, allowing the industry to bloom and achieve greater growth. Fintech companies have an opportunity on their hands: if they move to empower creators now, everyone stands to benefit as a result.