VisualGPS Creative Trends Technology Japan's Trust Gap: What Japan's Financial Brands Need to Know Now

In Japan, trust has become the defining challenge for financial brands. As scam losses rise and confidence in advertising falls, claims of innovation are no longer enough. Trust now comes from showing people that the systems managing their money are reliable, accountable and made with care. Consumers need to feel protected, informed and in control. 

Summary of key points 
As Japan's financial brands work to close the digital trust gap, here are some considerations for shaping a visual strategy that builds trust your customer can actually feel:

• Show the people, not just the technology. Depict the humans behind the systems, verifying, authorising and overseeing, so AI feels reliably managed rather than magic or invisible.
• Reveal process, not just outcome. Move beyond clichés like glass meeting rooms. Use perspective and light to give people a genuine sense of oversight and openness into how things work.
• Make trust feel calm and human, not automated. Focus visuals on what technology enables for real people, keep them ordered and easy to read, and favour human‑centred imagery over abstract data flows that are difficult to interpret.

In 2025, Japanese consumers lost more than 324 billion yen (about US$2.7B) to scams, up 62.8% from 2024.¹ The number of reported cases reached an all‑time high at 42,000, up from 31,000.²

At the same time, consumers are navigating a financial world that is increasingly shaped by automation, AI and always‑on digital services. These technologies bring efficiency and convenience, but they also bring uncertainty. Financial services now often work in ways customers can't see. Decisions happen instantly. Transactions move on their own. AI works quietly in the background. As these systems grow more complex, one question becomes harder to answer: How do you make something invisible feel trustworthy? 

Getty Images’ VisualGPS research highlights the scale of this challenge. Only 11% of consumers in Japan say they completely trust financial advertising—a strikingly low number compared to global consumers (19%) and Asia‑Pacific (14%). Japan's gap isn't a small difference, it's nearly half of the global average, and the widest of any market. This tells us that building digital trust should be a key priority for brands.

Technology is seen as useful, but intrusive. Efficiency competes with concerns around dependence and displacement. Finance brands are judged on balance, not adoption. Yet, amid the rapid growth and innovation in fintech, financial brands are still leaning on familiar visual elements. Getty Images' VisualGPS research reveals: 

• 79% of technology‑related visuals depict innovation by abstractly representing data flows, scale and connectivity.
• Only 5% of visuals take a human‑centred or optimistic approach.

• Who is responsible?
• Who is reviewing these decisions?
• How are risks managed?
• What happens when something goes wrong?

When planning your visual storytelling, think about:

Human oversight not just activity
Build confidence that AI is reliably working in the background. Part of the appeal of technology is how seamless and effortless it feels, but this has led to technology feeling like a magic trick, when in fact systems and processes only run smoothly because of the people behind the scenes, and how they verify and authorise each step. To get this message across, try depicting systems literally, with a reminder of who is sitting behind the scenes in that server room, and what it takes to get a server or a program up and running. Technology is created and only runs well because of the humans who help develop and interpret it.

Building trust through a message of protection, transparency and simplicity
"Secure" is the most desired visual tone in financial advertising worldwide, and its importance is even stronger in Asia‑Pacific. Glass meeting rooms and doors open into big modern offices are a common go‑to way to demonstrate transparency, giving a view into "how we work" as a business. But this visual has become a bit of a cliché, and there are other ways to give people that same feeling of openness. Reveal parts of the process, not just the outcome. Perspective and light can do this too. For example, one simple way is a switch from the mid‑eye level perspective to a view from above, which feels more overarching, as if you can see more and have greater oversight. Or light itself can carry the message, a room lit clearly and evenly can feel more open and honest than one styled for polish.

Build trust by showing technology that feels carefully made, not automatically generated
Instead of showing AI process things quickly in a way we don’t understand, consider showing what AI enables, not just that it is present. Focus on AI working reliably in the background, not as the centre of attention. Keep visuals calm, ordered and easy to read. This makes it simpler for audiences to understand as well as for brands to communicate.

Japan's finance brands have a real chance to turn anxiety into trust, but the window to act is narrowing. The data is clear, and it's more severe here than almost anywhere else: Scam losses are climbing fast, trust in advertising is at its lowest point and consumers are waiting to feel truly safe. The brands that succeed won't be the ones with the flashiest tech, but the ones that move now to make people feel seen, secure and in control. As scam concerns and financial pressure continue to grow, visual storytelling is a direct line to how safe your customers feel with you. The time to rethink your visuals and put people, not just technology, at the centre of the story is now.

Sources
[1]  The Straits Times
[2] The Japan Times