Vertrauen als Engpass und Hebel: Warum Financial Wellbeing in Deutschland ohne Trust nicht skaliert und was die Akzeptanzforschung zu digitaler, persönlichkeitsbasierter Finanzberatung daraus ableitet

Abstract

Financial wellbeing refers to managing money confidently, achieving personal goals, and buffering financial risks. Representative evidence for Germany indicates substantial strain: 52% experience financial worries at least weekly, 27% report lacking an overview of their finances, and the national financial wellbeing score is 53 (OECD mid-range). At the same time, societal indicators point to widespread caution and low baseline trust, with only 24.59% endorsing general trust in others and 74.38% reporting concern about fraud. This discussion paper argues that trust is a prerequisite for scaling integrated financial wellbeing solutions beyond niche adoption. The macro perspective is complemented by microlevel evidence from an acceptance study of personality-based digital financial advice: in an extended UTAUT model (n=100; ages 18–29), perceived functional value, trust, and social influence strongly predict behavioral intention (R²=.63), while privacy concerns are non-significant at the intention level. Based on this combined lens, the paper derives trust-by-design principles as well as governance and measurement requirements to make integrated, digital wellbeing offerings scalable and credible.