Finance marketing is earning trust from people who've been warned, rightly, to trust no one, inside some of the strictest advertising rules in Australia. ASIC updated its advertising guide, RG 234, on 9 June 2026, and it now covers AI-written ads, influencers and lead generators. Google and Meta both make finance advertisers verify their licence before ads run. I'm a marketing consultant on the Central Coast, NSW, working with businesses across Australia. The checker on this page flags wording in your ads that ASIC's guide calls out, with the paragraph for each. Marketing only: nothing here is financial advice.
Written by Dan Picken, founder. Last checked 30 October 2026.The broker figure is from the MFAA, on Cotality data, a record. The scam figure is from the ACCC's National Anti-Scam Centre, the largest loss category of $2.18 billion in total. That's the tension in finance marketing: buyers rely on intermediaries more than ever, and trust less than ever. Plain, checkable, rule-abiding marketing isn't just compliance. It's what wins.
Source: MFAA: Broker market share reaches record 81.6% (Sept 2026)
How people choose a broker or lender
Someone starts with a rate search or a calculator, reads comparison sites and Reddit threads, asks a friend who refinanced, then checks reviews and licence details before handing over their financial life.
The psychology
Money decisions are high stakes, slow and private. Most worries are about being misled, judged or rejected.
01
Australians lost $837.7 million to investment scams in 2025, and the warnings are everywhere. Careful buyers check everything.
Show them: Your licence number, real names and photos, an address, and how to verify you on ASIC's register.
02
People anchor on the lowest rate they've seen in an ad, often a headline rate that doesn't apply to them.
Show them: Comparison rates as prominent as headline rates, and an honest example of what someone like them might get.
03
A rejection feels like a loss and a judgement. Many people put off applying because they expect a no.
Show them: What you look at, what a first conversation involves, and that it doesn't affect their credit file if that's true.
04
Mortgage brokers have best interests obligations under the National Credit Act, but many buyers don't know that, or how commission works.
Show them: How you're paid, in plain words, and what the best interests duty means for them.
05
Thousands of loan products with small differences make people freeze, or default to their own bank.
Show them: A short, clear path: the three questions that narrow it down, and what happens next.
From my audits
These are the patterns I see most in finance and professional services accounts, and the first things I'd check.
The lowest rate in the ad, with the comparison rate small and grey. It gets clicks, then loses trust on the first call, and invites ASIC's attention.
Google or Meta ads paused because the licence verification wasn't done, or was done under the wrong entity.
Campaigns judged on enquiries, when most never reach settlement. The ads keep finding the people who don't proceed.
No names, no photos, no licence number up front, in the one industry where people look for exactly that.
'Five tips for first home buyers' that every lender has published, instead of answering local, specific questions.
Ad wording checker
Paste the words of a finance ad, a social post or a landing page headline. It checks them against ASIC's advertising guide, RG 234, updated in June 2026, and shows the paragraph behind each flag.
The example is a made-up home loan ad. Nothing you paste leaves your browser.
Flags
0
A first pass on the words alone, not compliance advice. ASIC looks at the whole ad: images, layout, who is likely to see it, and the product's target market determination. Source: ASIC RG 234 (June 2026).
AI search
People ask ChatGPT and Google's AI whether to use a broker, how much they can borrow, or what refinancing involves. AI tools tend to give general information and suggest professional advice, which means the firms with clear, accurate, checkable explanations are the ones worth naming.
Explain how things work. ASIC warns that content intended to influence a financial decision can be financial product advice that needs a licence, including content from paid influencers.
Licence numbers, names, locations and how you're paid, stated the same everywhere, make it easier for AI tools and people to confirm you're real.
What to do now
My take: in finance, AI search rewards exactly what ASIC asks for. Clear, balanced, checkable information. The firms that already do the right thing for compliance are halfway to doing the right thing for AI.
Australian rules
Finance has more advertising rules than almost any industry. These are the ones that come up most in marketing, checked on 30 October 2026.
ASIC's advertising guide was updated on 9 June 2026. It covers any medium, including AI-generated ads, which ASIC says should be reviewed and approved by a person before publication.
If an ad contains an interest rate, it must contain a comparison rate, no less prominently, with a warning that it applies only to the example.
Google requires finance advertisers targeting Australia to show they're authorised by the relevant regulator before their ads run.
Since February 2025, Meta has required finance advertisers in Australia to verify who's paying and show a licence number before ads run.
ASIC says licensees may be liable for the influencers they use, and RG 234 now treats lead generators as promoters.
A marketer's summary, not legal or financial advice. Check with ASIC, your licensee or a lawyer for your situation.
The channel mix
The finance hub
ASIC's guide is RG 234, updated in June 2026. In short: the headline must be true on its own, risks shown as clearly as benefits, comparison rates with interest rates, the right past performance warning, and no 'free' if there's any charge. It covers any medium, including AI-written ads and influencers.
If the ad contains an interest rate for credit, yes. RG 234 says the comparison rate must be no less prominent than the interest rate, with a warning that it applies only to the example.
Yes, after verification. Google requires finance advertisers to show they're authorised by the regulator, and Meta requires licence verification and a 'paid for by' label for finance ads in Australia.
Carefully. ASIC says paid content can be financial product advice that needs a licence, and licensees may be liable for the influencers they use.
Usually: a strong Google Business Profile and reviews, clear local pages that answer real questions, and Google Ads for high-intent searches, all tracked through to settlement, not just enquiries.
Yes, but ASIC's updated guide says AI-generated advertising should be reviewed and approved by a person before publication. The same rules apply as for any ad.
Keep going
Takes a minute. Audits come back within 1 to 2 business days. For anything else, I'll get back to you as soon as possible.
What happens next