How to Monetize a Personal Finance Blog in the UK (2026)
Published October 2026. The search results, programme terms and rules below were read on 29 October 2026. This page explains published rules; it is not legal advice.
Short answer: a UK personal finance blog can earn from display ads, from affiliate programmes run by budgeting apps, banks and investment platforms, and from its own products. The catch is that money is the one niche where a sentence can be a regulated financial promotion. Under section 21 of the Financial Services and Markets Act, promoting investments in the course of business is restricted unless the communicator is authorised, the content is approved by an authorised firm, or an exemption applies, and the FCA addresses affiliate marketers in its guidance. Several finance programmes we read also control what you may write: Emma checks copy for FCA compliance, and Revolut and Wise limit you to their own visuals and approved claims.
Who ranks for money questions in the UK
We searched ten common money questions on google.co.uk: saving on groceries, paying off debt, stocks and shares ISAs, budgeting on a low income, the 50/30/20 rule, starting to invest, emergency funds, improving a credit score, the Lifetime ISA and side hustles. Page one held 79 organic results.
| Who held the result | Results | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Banks, lenders, credit agencies and other financial firms | 35 | HSBC (5), Experian (4), Lloyds (3), NatWest, Barclays, Starling |
| Public bodies, charities and trade bodies | 21 | MoneyHelper (7), GOV.UK (4), Citizens Advice (2), StepChange, Turn2us |
| Comparison sites and media | 11 | MoneySavingExpert (5), MoneySuperMarket, NerdWallet, Investopedia |
| Reddit, Facebook and Instagram | 8 | Reddit on 6 of the 10 queries |
| Other businesses | 2 | Indeed, Royal Mail |
| Independent blogs | 2 | A side hustle assessment site and a meal-planning Substack |
We call this the regulated page one: for UK money questions, Google fills the first page with firms that are themselves regulated and with public bodies that give free guidance. Compare that with recipes, where independents held 34 of 72 results in our food blog study, or fashion, where they held 11 of 81. Neither of the two finance independents that did rank was selling anything we could see: the side hustle site had no ads.txt file and no outbound links on its home page, and the other was a newsletter about groceries.
The practical reading is that a new UK finance blog will not win broad questions such as “how to start investing” against HSBC and MoneyHelper. Its openings are narrower: a specific situation, a specific product type explained from experience, or a local or professional angle the banks do not cover.
The rule that changes the business model
Section 21 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 says a person “must not, in the course of business, communicate an invitation or inducement” to engage in investment activity, unless that person is authorised, the content is approved by an authorised person, or an exemption in the Financial Promotion Order applies. Three things follow from the FCA’s published material.
First, bloggers paid by commission are in view. The FCA’s social media guidance, FG24/1, is addressed to “influencers or other affiliate marketers, involved in communicating financial promotions”. It warns that unauthorised persons “who promote financial products or services that are subject to regulation without the approval of an FCA authorised person may be committing a criminal offence.” It says the business test requires a commercial interest, which “does not necessarily have to be a direct interest”. The guidance is written about social media; section 21 itself is not limited to any channel.
Second, approval has to come from the right firm. Since 7 February 2024, with limited exceptions, an authorised firm needs specific FCA permission before it can approve promotions for unauthorised people, so “approved by an authorised person” only counts if the approver holds that permission.
Third, crypto is stricter still. Since 8 October 2023, a cryptoasset promotion can only reach UK consumers through one of four routes set out by the FCA. Anything else breaches section 21, “a criminal offence punishable by up to 2 years imprisonment, an unlimited fine, or both.”
Credit is a separate question. Introducing someone who wants credit to a lender is a regulated activity under article 36A of the Regulated Activities Order, and the FCA says consumer credit brokers “need to be authorised by us.” None of the FCA pages we read says whether a paid link to a credit card or loan counts as an introduction. That answer sits in the FCA’s perimeter guidance, which we have not assessed, so we give no view on it here.
General budgeting and saving guidance is usually information, not an invitation to invest in a particular product, and most of what ranks for money questions is that kind of content. Where a given page falls is a perimeter question. The risk rises when a paid link sits next to words that encourage a reader to put money into a particular product.
How finance programmes deal with it: they write the copy for you
No UK programme we read asks the affiliate to be FCA-authorised. Instead, several control the words.
| Programme | What it pays (as published) | Rules on your copy and channels |
|---|---|---|
| Emma (budgeting app) | Commission when a referred user starts a 7-day free trial, kept if they cancel; rate not published | “We check all copy about Emma’s products and features to ensure compliance with FCA…”; approved assets supplied; no networks or incentivised sites |
| Revolut (via Rakuten) | “Details of commissions are provided when signing up” | A compliance survey before access; Revolut-provided visuals only, and custom visuals breach the terms |
| Wise (via Partnerize) | From £10 per personal and £50 per business customer, one-year cookie (onboarding guide dated May 2021) | Approved claims only; ask before making comparison claims; no paid advertising without written consent |
| Plum (via Partnerize) | “Commission starts at £3 per sign-up”, counted once the user links a bank account within 30 days | No voucher sites or networks; no copy rules published |
| Hargreaves Lansdown (in-house) | Performance-based, rate not published; 15-day click referral period | Suitability checks on applicant sites |
| Freetrade (partner referral terms) | “may pay to the Partner a fee or commission”; no amount stated | Referral links banned on public social media and forums; the terms are silent on blogs (terms dated August 2023, for 12 months unless extended) |
| Credit Karma US (via Awin) | Not published | “Publisher shall not modify Credit Karma-approved content without prior written approval”; no email, SMS or social promotion |
| Quicken and Simplifi (US, via Impact) | Not published | Accepts “almost all types of websites” relevant to its products |
| YNAB (US) | Not published | Invite only |
Monzo, Nutmeg and Chip run customer referral schemes; we found no public affiliate application for their personal products (Monzo has a separate business partner programme aimed at firms such as accountants). Monzo’s personal referral terms say rewards can stop if the offer is being “gamed”, giving paid advertising of a referral link as an example. We could not open official affiliate terms for Trading 212, Moneybox or Empower, so they are left out.
Notice how little is published. Of nine programmes, two state a figure (Wise, Plum) and Wise’s comes from a 2021 document. You will usually only see rates after you apply and are accepted.
What one sign-up is worth
- A Plum sign-up pays from £3, so 100 qualifying sign-ups a month earn at least £300.
- A Wise personal customer paid from £10 in the 2021 guide, and only once they make a cross-currency transfer.
- A Wise business customer paid from £50 on the same terms.
Those are floors, and they depend on readers completing a step after the click (linking a bank, making a transfer, starting a trial). Treat any rate from 2021 as a question to ask on application, not a number to plan around.
Ads, products and the other income lines
Display ads work the same way in money as elsewhere: Journey by Mediavine opens at 1,000 Tier 1 sessions in 30 days and Raptive at 25,000 pageviews a month. Terms for every network are in our ad network comparison. With display ads the advertiser writes the ad and the network places it; we have not assessed where responsibility sits for a financial ad on your page.
Your own products, such as a budgeting spreadsheet, a course on paying off debt or a paid newsletter, avoid the commission question, though a paid product about investing can raise its own questions. Keep it on the guidance side and do not steer readers into a particular investment.
Labelling paid links
The CMA says “all labels must be clear, prominent and easy to understand”, and FG24/1 says paid content, including affiliate links, must be labelled as an advert upfront. For US readers, the FTC says a single disclosure on your home page “won’t be sufficient”, that people “might not understand that ‘affiliate link’ means that the person placing the link is getting paid”, and that the closer the disclosure is to the recommendation, the better.
A sensible order of work
- Pick a narrow angle the banks and MoneyHelper do not serve well, and write guidance first.
- Build an email list and a simple product of your own; neither depends on a programme’s approval.
- Apply to budgeting and money app programmes (Emma, Plum) and use the copy they supply, unchanged.
- Before any paid link to an investment, credit product or crypto, get advice on whether you need an approver or an appointed representative arrangement.
- Add a managed ad network once traffic reaches its threshold.
How we checked
The search sample is ten money questions, run from the UK on google.co.uk on 29 October 2026; all 79 organic results were classed by who runs the site. Programme terms were read on each company’s own pages or its network profile. Legal text was read on legislation.gov.uk and the FCA’s site.
Limits. Ten queries on one day, from one location. We read rules; we did not ask the FCA or a lawyer to apply them to any page. Several programmes publish no rate, and their real terms appear only after acceptance.
Our stake. Our income comes from blog audits and services. No bank, app or platform named here pays us, and no link on this page earns us anything.
Frequently asked questions
Can a personal finance blog make money in the UK?
Yes, from ads, from app and platform affiliate programmes, and from its own products. Some programmes control the copy: Emma checks it for FCA compliance, and Revolut supplies the only visuals you may use.
Do I need FCA authorisation to run a finance blog?
Not to publish general guidance. Promoting investments for commission is different: section 21 restricts it unless the content is approved by an authorised firm with the right permission or an exemption applies, and the FCA warns that unauthorised people who promote regulated products without approval may be committing an offence. Take advice for your own case.
Which finance affiliate programmes publish their rates?
Of the nine we read, only Plum (from £3 per sign-up) and Wise (from £10 and £50, in a 2021 guide) published figures.
Why are there so few blogs on page one for money searches?
For our ten UK queries, banks, financial firms, public bodies and comparison sites held 67 of 79 results. Independent blogs held 2.
Related: how food blogs make money, how fashion bloggers make money, how gaming blogs make money and affiliate marketing for bloggers.
Sources
All read 29 October 2026.
- Law and regulation: FSMA 2000, section 21; FCA FG24/1; FCA PS23/13, the approver gateway; FCA, marketing cryptoassets to UK consumers; Regulated Activities Order, article 36A; FCA, consumer credit brokers.
- Labelling: CMA guidance for content creators; FTC Endorsement Guides FAQ.
- Programmes: Emma; Revolut; Plum; Hargreaves Lansdown; Credit Karma on Awin; Quicken; YNAB; Wise onboarding guide and partner guidelines; Freetrade partner terms; Monzo referral terms.
- Ad networks: Mediavine and Journey requirements; Raptive.
Written by
Blogging Titan Team
Blogging Titan is an independent team of bloggers documenting what actually grows a blog in the AI search era. We have been building, ranking, and monetizing WordPress sites since 2017, and every guide on this site is based on strategies and tools we have tested ourselves. Want a second pair of eyes on your blog? Request a free blog audit or start with the 2026 playbook.