Karsten Wenzlaff, Advisor
August 26th, 2025
Karsten Wenzlaff is a Crowdfunding and Fintech Expert from Germany. He is Secretary-General of Digit[...]
Finland’s 39% Digital Finance Result Has Lessons For Canada
September 22, 2026 | NCFA Insight | Financial Literacy And Consumer Capability, Artificial Intelligence And Data, Cybersecurity And Fraud, Lending Consumer Credit And BNPL, Digital Assets Blockchain And Tokenization
Finland's Data Exposes Six Gaps Canada Should Measure
On September 16, 2026, the OECD published Finland's digital financial literacy strategy, backed by a survey of 2,061 adults and an comprehensive review of how people bank, borrow, invest, use artificial intelligence, encounter fraud and judge financial information online.
The headline result is uncomfortable for any country with a highly digital financial system. Only 39% of Finnish adults reached the OECD's minimum digital financial literacy benchmark. Finland is hardly a digital laggard. Internet use is nearly universal, most financial products are managed online and Finland performs above the OECD average on comparable digital financial literacy measures. Canada also has extensive financial literacy research and generally performs strongly on international measures, but no directly comparable national digital financial literacy benchmark appears to be published.
Canada starts from a similar position on access. Statistics Canada found that 94% of Canadians used the internet for personal purposes in 2022 and 82% of internet users banked online. The real gap begins after access. Can consumers judge the products, risks and advice they encounter once they are online?
10 Numbers Behind The Digital Finance Gap
| 97% / 95% | of Finnish adults used the internet daily, while 95% of current or payment account holders managed those accounts online. |
| 70/100 vs. 63/100 | was the average general digital literacy score versus the average digital financial literacy score. Only 39% reached the minimum digital financial literacy benchmark. |
| 54/100 | was the digital financial literacy score for adults aged 18 to 29, the lowest of any age group. |
| 46% / 56% | of adults aged 18 to 29 used AI for financial advice at least monthly, while 56% said they needed help using digital financial services. |
| 70% / 43% / 52% | of young adults cited friends or family, influencers and online advertising respectively as sources influencing financial product choices. |
| 32% / 35% vs. 45% | used short term online credit. Among users, 35% reached the digital financial literacy benchmark compared with 45% of non-users. |
| 16% | owned crypto-assets, about four times the OECD comparison rate used in the report. Among owners, 68% cited fun, 51% fear of missing out and 43% making money quickly, while owners performed worse than non-owners on two of three basic crypto knowledge questions. |
| 31% / 38% vs. 21% | of adults encountered at least one online financial scam or fraud in the previous two years. Exposure was 38% among people below the digital financial literacy benchmark versus 21% among those above it, rising to 56% versus 33% among young adults. |
| 41% | rarely or never checked whether an online financial provider was regulated. |
| 68% / 75% / 23% | rejected the view that online financial providers are generally trustworthy, 75% would not let their bank share financial data with other companies for personalized advice, and only 23% recognized that financial providers may use non-financial personal data in credit or insurance decisions. |
Responder percentages are interesting but the cross-section of those responses are more revealing. They show where digital adoption, financial judgment, trust and consumer protection stop moving together.
1. High Digital Use Can Hide Financial Capability Gaps
Finland has already cleared many of the hurdles normally associated with digital inclusion. Internet use is nearly universal, 95% of current or payment account holders manage those accounts online and Finnish adults scored an average 70 out of 100 on the OECD's general digital literacy measure. Yet their average digital financial literacy score fell to 63, and most adults didn't reach the minimum benchmark.
See: Open Banking’s Next Battle Is Decision Intelligence
That difference is important.
Digital literacy measures whether someone can function effectively and safely online. Digital financial literacy adds another layer by requiring consumers to understand financial products, compare alternatives, check providers, protect financial information and make informed decisions about risk. Being good at the first doesn't establish competence in the second.
Canada already recognizes this. The National Financial Literacy Strategy treats digital access and digital literacy as related but separate issues and calls for consumers to develop the skills needed to navigate an increasingly digital financial marketplace.
The Canadian numbers show why access alone isn't enough. Among internet users in 2022, only 54% of people without a high school diploma banked online, compared with 70% of adults aged 65 and older and 73% of people in the lowest income group. Access is high overall, but participation is uneven. Measuring internet or online banking use alone won't show whether Canadians understand the financial decisions they make once they are online.
2. Young Adults Use More AI And Need More Financial Help
The age results overturn an easy assumption about digital finance. Finland's youngest adults are among its most active users of newer technology, yet they recorded the weakest digital financial literacy score. Almost half of 18 to 29 year olds used AI for financial advice at least monthly, while more than half said they needed help with digital financial services.
The information environment is different for this group too. Seventy per cent said recommendations from friends, family or acquaintances influenced financial product choices. Forty three per cent cited influencers and 52% cited online advertising. The issue isn't whether young adults can find financial information. They have more sources competing for their attention than previous generations did.
The OSC's Canadian finfluencer research found that 82% of investors aged 18 to 24 use social media for investment information. In a separate experiment, 38% of participants exposed to promotional investment content bought the promoted asset versus 8% in the control group.
AI now adds a personalized, conversational source that exists beside social media, advertising, financial institutions and licensed advisers. Financial capability for younger Canadians therefore has to include source verification, recognizing promotional content, understanding when regulated advice is required and checking an AI answer before acting on it. Teaching someone how to operate a financial app addresses a different problem.
3. Faster Borrowing And Investing Demand Better Decisions
Digital finance can improve access and lower costs, but it can also shorten the time available to understand a financial commitment.
Finland's short term credit data highlights the problem. Users of online credit products had lower digital financial literacy than non-users and were more likely to report impulsive online purchasing. Only 35% of users reached the minimum literacy benchmark, compared with 45% of non-users.
Crypto shows the same tension from the investment side. Finland's crypto ownership rate was four times the OECD comparison rate used in the report. Participation was particularly high among younger adults, yet owners performed worse than non-owners on two of three basic crypto knowledge questions. The reasons for owning also mixed investing with experimentation, entertainment, fear of missing out and the desire to make money quickly.
Canada has already reached substantial crypto participation. The OSC's 2025 Canadian crypto survey found that 25% of Canadian adults currently owned crypto-assets. Meanwhile, Canada's BNPL market continues to make small amounts of credit available directly inside checkout flows, while credit reporting remains inconsistent across providers and bureaus.
See: Buy Now, Pay Later And Your Credit File In Canada
Canada already requires financial knowledge to be delivered when it's relevant and before a consumer commits. Digital products can do this far more precisely than a classroom or generic information page. Total borrowing cost can appear before a BNPL commitment. An investing app can explain concentration or volatility while an order is being prepared. A crypto platform can surface custody, loss and regulatory information before funds leave the account.
Less friction in the transaction makes that moment more important, not less.
4. Fraud Shows What Capability Gaps Can Cost
Finland's strongest link between literacy and a real financial outcome appears in its fraud data. Adults below the digital financial literacy benchmark were exposed to scams and fraud at almost twice the rate of those above it. Among young adults, exposure reached 56% for people with lower literacy versus 33% among their higher literacy peers.
One behaviour jumps out. Four in ten Finnish adults rarely or never checked whether an online financial provider was regulated before buying a financial product. That's a serious weakness when consumers can discover an investment, lender, crypto platform or purported adviser through a social post, advertisement, search result or AI conversation and transact minutes later.
Canada doesn't need Finnish data to establish that fraud is a major domestic problem. Canadians reported more than $704 million in fraud losses in 2025, according to the federal government's National Anti-Fraud Strategy consultation, and only an estimated 5% to 10% of incidents are reported. Fraudsters are also using AI and operating across financial services, telecom, social media and other channels.
Financial education can improve the odds that someone recognizes a warning sign, but Finland doesn't assign the problem to consumers alone. Its strategy pairs literacy with security controls, clear institutional warnings, consumer protection, reporting processes and coordination among financial firms and public agencies.
See: How Fraud Broke The Old Rules Of Trust And Verification
Canada can apply the same logic by making provider verification much easier. Before sending money, consumers should be able to answer four basic questions quickly: Who operates this service? Is it regulated? What protections apply? Where do I report a problem? Teaching consumers to verify a provider works better when the verification itself isn't difficult.
5. Digital Use Can Rise While Trust Stays Low
Finland also shows why transaction volume doesn't tell us how consumers feel about the financial system underneath it. Digital financial services are deeply embedded in everyday life, yet 68% of adults rejected the statement that online financial providers are generally trustworthy. Three quarters wouldn't allow their bank to share financial information with other companies for personalized financial advice.
At the same time, only 23% correctly recognized that financial providers may use non-financial personal data, including social media information, when making credit or insurance decisions. Consumers can therefore be cautious about data use without fully understanding how data-driven finance works.
That has direct relevance for Canadian consumer-driven banking, AI-powered financial services and future forms of financial data portability. Consent can't do all the work. A customer also needs to understand who receives the information, what can be inferred from it, what decision it may influence and what rights apply afterward.
See: Canada's Open Banking Strategy Starts With Trust
This is where data literacy becomes financial literacy. A useful Canadian strategy should measure whether consumers understand the consequences of sharing financial and non-financial data, rather than treating acceptance of a disclosure screen as evidence of informed participation.
6. Canada Needs A Better Measure Of Digital Financial Capability
FCAC's strategy already calls for digital literacy, trustworthy financial help, behavioural design, stronger consumer protection and just in time information. Its 2026 to 2029 strategic plan is now operating in a market where AI, fraud and new financial products continue to increase the demands placed on consumers.
Finland receives kudos for applying the OECD digital financial literacy framework to a nationally representative survey and using the results to identify where digital financial capability is weakest. The framework combines financial knowledge, behaviour and attitudes into one digital financial literacy score. It also tests whether people understand digital contracts and crypto risk, compare alternatives, check whether providers are regulated, protect their credentials and recognize unsafe online behaviour. That gives policymakers a way to compare groups and connect capability with outcomes such as fraud exposure.
Canada has useful national measures of internet use, online banking, financial resilience, fraud, investment behaviour and digital access, but no current nationally representative benchmark appears to combine these digital financial capabilities and report the share of adults who meet a common minimum standard.
Canada could measure whether a young adult using AI for investing has the same capability as someone using a bank adviser, whether people taking digital credit understand total obligations, whether crypto owners understand loss and custody risk, whether consumers can verify online providers and whether people know what happens to data after they consent to sharing it.
The measures should also follow outcomes. Finland proposes evaluating whether programmes change knowledge and behaviour instead of relying on page views, campaign reach or course participation. Canada could go further by connecting digital financial capability with fraud losses and reporting, debt stress, complaints, switching behaviour and other observable outcomes.
That would also help separate problems that education can address from problems that require better product design, supervision or consumer protection. A consumer shouldn't need expert knowledge to compensate for a confusing interface, hidden cost, weak fraud control or misleading recommendation.
What Canada Should Take From Finland's Results
1. Measure what people can do after they get online. Internet access and online banking tell us who can participate. They don't tell us whether someone can compare products, understand the risk, check a provider or recognize when something looks wrong.
2. Don't mistake digital confidence for financial capability. Younger adults may be highly comfortable with apps, AI, crypto and social media while still needing help judging financial information and risk. Canada's approach to younger consumers should reflect that difference.
3. Give people the right information before they commit. Borrowing costs, investment risk, provider status, data use and complaint rights are most useful while someone is deciding whether to borrow, invest, share data or send money.
See: AI In Canadian Financial Advice And The Governance Standards That Must Be Followed
4. Make it easy to check who you're dealing with. Consumers shouldn't have to search through several regulatory websites to find out whether a lender, investment platform or adviser is legitimate, who regulates it and what protections apply.
5. Tie financial literacy to Canada's fraud response. Knowing that scams exist isn't enough. Canada should measure whether people can recognize a suspicious approach, verify it, stop a payment, report the incident and understand what to do next.
6. Judge financial education by what people understand and do differently. Page views, downloads and campaign reach show whether information was seen. The more useful measures are whether people make better decisions, avoid preventable losses and know where to turn when something goes wrong.
Finland's 39% result isn't evidence that Canada's number would be the same. It is evidence that high digital adoption can conceal weaknesses that adoption data won't reveal. Canada already knows how many people get online and how many bank there, but do they know whether people can make sound financial decisions once they arrive.
Talking Point
Canada can measure how quickly consumers adopt digital finance. Should its next financial literacy strategy also establish how many Canadians have the minimum capability to use it safely?
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