In urban India, Instagram now outpaces WhatsApp, financial services can see huge legroom for growth

Across income groups in urban India, more users in India spend time on Instagram than on WhatsApp, with Facebook close behind in the third place. This makes Instagram the platform of choice for financial services advertising, a recent IPSOS survey reveals. Threads, meanwhile, has failed to gain traction across urban India’s different socioeconomic tiers.

The recent study titled ‘From feeds to financial futures headlines,’ commissioned by Meta explores the influence of Meta’s apps on financial services decision making by urban India.

Interestingly, an average urban upper middle-class individual spends about 51 minutes every day across Meta's Family of Apps. But WhatsApp usage is significantly lower among those in medium-income households, where Instagram dominates screen time. In contrast, within low-income households, Facebook sees the least engagement, while in high-income households, Instagram usage surpasses an hour per day, making it the most time-consuming platform in that segment.

Yet, overall, the survey recorded more responses form WhatsApp users than Instagram, highlighting the wider reach and pervasiveness of WhatsApp across income groups, even if Instagram commands more time spent in certain segments.

The IPSOS survey represented the upper-class urban India, specifically individuals classified under NCCS A, the highest tier in the New Consumer Classification System. These respondents have a monthly household income of approximately ₹1 lakh and were selected from four key metropolitan cities—Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, and Kolkata.

The respondents are tech-savvy working professionals aged between 25 and 45 years who use social media at least once a week. The classification of households by monthly income is segmented into low, medium, and high-income groups using a coding system. Low-income households include those earning less than ₹50,000 per month. The medium-income group includes households with a monthly income ranging from ₹50,001 to ₹99,999. Meanwhile, the high-income segment covers those earning between ₹1 lakh and ₹2 lakh or more.

More than 50% of users on Facebook and Instagram consume short-form video content to make financial decisions. Reels and other short-form videos are redefining financial education, with 57% of financial services consumers relying on Instagram and 53% on Facebook to make informed choices. The study highlights that these platforms play a critical role in helping users discover, evaluate, and purchase financial products across categories such as savings, loans, insurance, and investments.

Influencer-led content and peer testimonials have overtaken traditional celebrity endorsements in trust and impact. Among the 2,150 respondents, 75% of urban users trust financial podcasts, 73% rely on peer voices, and 67% follow influencers for financial advice—all far exceeding reliance on celebrity ambassadors. This shift reflects a growing preference for personalised and authentic content.

The entire journey of discovering, evaluating and purchasing financial services entails over 8 touchpoints, of which 3 were Meta’s Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram.