CASE STUDY · BANCONTACT COMPANY
How we turned teenagers’ vulnerability to payment scams into a platform for prevention
Bancontact Company – Driving awareness of teenagers’ vulnerability to payment scams
Marie-Florence Decoene
As a key player in Belgium’s digital payments ecosystem, Bancontact Company wanted to take an active role in preventing payment fraud. The ambition was clear: help consumers protect themselves better. Our challenge was to find where that commitment could make a meaningful difference.
We started with a question: how well do people recognise payment scams, and who is the most at risk?
An insight that challenged expectations
To explore this question, we developed a survey together with iVOX comparing adults and teenagers aged 12–17. To our knowledge, this was the first survey in Belgium to specifically examine teenagers’ attitudes, behaviours and vulnerabilities when faced with payment scams.
The results showed that teenagers were more vulnerable than older generations. Despite being digital natives, they were not necessarily better at recognising fraud. We wanted to better understand this gap, both among young people themselves and among the adults around them.
To share these insights, we organised an education session for journalists to discuss the findings and what they meant for young people. We also distributed a press release with the key results. This generated 23 media clippings, including a front-page feature in La Libre.
In parallel, we worked with four content creators on TikTok and Instagram, with one Dutch-speaking and one French-speaking creator on each platform, to reach teenagers through the channels they use every day.
Turning a difficult subject into a conversation
Getting people’s attention was a start. But the survey had also revealed something we wanted to address: 37% of teenagers would not dare tell their parents if they were scammed. How could we help them ask for support if they were afraid to speak up?
This insight inspired The Conversation, or Het Gesprek / La Conversation, which we developed together with Bancontact Company: an online platform with two complementary experiences for teenagers and parents.
Teenagers can test their reflexes through five situations drawn from their daily lives. The parents’ experience complements this with practical advice developed with child and adolescent psychologist Klaar Hammenecker: how to raise the subject without judgment and build teenagers' confidence to share what happened.
With The Conversation, we took the campaign further: families have a tool to help them talk about fraud, recognise the risks and ask for help. We launched the platform in the press during Cybersecurity Month, generating 16 additional clippings across print, online and radio. This built on the initial coverage and highlighted Bancontact Company’s commitment to helping consumers protect themselves against payment fraud.
What this case shows
Media relations can open a conversation that an organisation can then take further. Our role was to recognise that opportunity and develop it with Bancontact Company, from the research idea to a platform families can use. The coverage highlighted teenagers’ vulnerability; The Conversation gave Bancontact Company a way to respond.
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