Finance 2026: customers ask AI, but still trust the bank

Money is where people are most careful with AI, and where they are adopting it quickly anyway. The result is a customer who asks the assistant first and still trusts the bank more.

In brief: Consumers now use AI to research money decisions but still trust their bank more. EY found 49% used AI to support savings and investment decisions in the past six months. In Deloitte's US survey, 79% trust their bank's website for research against 49% for gen AI tools, and 83% would be anxious if an AI agent acted without approval.

AI is already in the decision

EY's Global AI Sentiment Survey of more than 18,000 people in 23 countries found that 49% used AI to support savings and investment decisions in the past six months. 21% use AI agents for financial product recommendations, 14% have let AI select a provider on their behalf and 11% have let it manage their finances with little or no human intervention (EY, 24 Apr 2026).

Adoption skews young: 68% of Gen Z respondents use AI for some aspect of financial management, followed by 65% of millennials (EY, 24 Apr 2026).

But trust stays with the bank

Deloitte's survey of almost 2,600 US banking customers shows the limits. 72% are concerned about sharing information about their finances with gen AI tools, and only 46% trust the accuracy of its banking recommendations. When researching products, 79% trust their bank's own website, compared with 67% for search engines, 49% for gen AI tools and 28% for social media (Deloitte, 27 Aug 2026).

Control is the line customers draw. 83% say they would feel anxious about an AI agent acting on their finances without their approval. Yet 58% of gen AI users have already used these tools to research banking products (Deloitte, 27 Aug 2026).

A split customer base

Deloitte's banking outlook describes a bifurcated consumer: household debt reached $18.4 trillion in the second quarter of 2025, and in August 2025 spending grew 0.3% year on year for lower-income households against 2.2% for higher-income ones. It calls this an inflection point for AI in banking, with agentic AI dependent on AI-ready data (Deloitte, 30 Oct 2025).

What it means for marketers

• Be the source the model quotes. Deloitte advises banks to make rates, fees and disclosures structured and machine-readable, and to track their presence in AI-generated shortlists.
• Design for approval. Customers want AI that explains, compares and prepares, with a clear step where they say yes.
• Show your working. Explaining which data was used and why a recommendation was made turns caution into confidence.
• Segment by confidence, not only by age. Comfort with AI varies with education and employment as well as generation.

Banks still hold the trust. The question is whether they will be visible, and accurately described, in the places where customers now start.

Frequently asked questions

How many consumers use AI for financial decisions?

EY's Global AI Sentiment Survey of more than 18,000 people in 23 countries found that 49% used AI to support savings and investment decisions in the past six months, according to EY. 21% use AI agents for financial product recommendations, 14% have let AI select a provider on their behalf and 11% have let it manage their finances with little or no human intervention.

Do bank customers trust generative AI?

Only partly. In Deloitte's survey of almost 2,600 US banking customers, 72% are concerned about sharing information about their finances with gen AI tools and only 46% trust the accuracy of its banking recommendations. When researching products, 79% trust their bank's own website, compared with 67% for search engines, 49% for gen AI tools and 28% for social media.

Which generations use AI most to manage money?

Adoption skews young: 68% of Gen Z respondents use AI for some aspect of financial management, followed by 65% of millennials, according to EY. Comfort with AI also varies with education and employment, so banks are better served by segmenting customers by confidence with AI, not only by age.