Can you trust AI for banking advice? What consumers need to know

As AI seemingly plots world domination, taking over our jobs, you naturally may be wondering whether you can trust AI for banking advice.

The short answer is that trusting AI for financial advice is a little like trusting anyone or anything else. Sometimes you’re going to get excellent advice, and other times, maybe not.

So, really, the question isn’t “Can you trust AI for banking advice?” You can. The question should be “How much can you trust it?” In banking, customer trust is a key factor when evaluating AI, as it involves ensuring ethical use, maintaining data privacy, and fostering confidence in AI-driven advice.

There’s a lot to think about.

Pros and cons of using AI for financial guidance in banking

Let’s start here.

The advantages of AI in banking are pretty clear:

• It’s fast. You sign up for an AI platform like ChatGPT, Claude, or Perplexity, and you ask it some banking questions, and you get answers. It isn’t like you have to set up an appointment to talk to AI. With AI, you can have an answer within seconds.
• It’s free. AI is generally free unless you opt for a paid AI service, which often allows longer and more frequent use without interruptions. Also, the security and privacy controls are generally better, which is something to think about if you’re revealing any personal financial information.
• It’s fun. Maybe if you’ve incorporated AI into your daily life to the point where it’s old hat, the “wow” factor isn’t there for you any longer. But for a lot of us, using AI still seems like a novelty.
• AI supports fraud detection and risk management. AI tools and solutions help banks detect fraudulent transactions and manage risk more effectively, improving security for customers.
• It enhances operational efficiency and streamlines operations. AI enables banks to automate repetitive tasks, optimize workflows, and reduce operational costs, leading to more efficient service delivery.
• AI tools and solutions enable better service delivery and improve customer engagement and satisfaction. By personalizing services and automating processes, AI helps banks meet client needs and boost overall customer satisfaction.
• It can analyze vast amounts of structured and unstructured data. This supports investment research, financial planning, and personal finance management by providing deeper insights and more accurate recommendations.
• It helps reduce operational costs and supports the development of innovative financial products. Banks can tailor offerings to customers’ financial goals, making services more relevant and cost-effective.

But there are disadvantages of AI in banking:

• AI may not keep your information private. As noted, if you aren’t paying for AI, you do want to be careful about what you share with it. You’re generally going to be fine if you ask it a few budgeting questions, but you wouldn’t want to upload your bank statement or tax returns to a free AI program. While it may be unlikely that anything bad happens, like identity theft, your data could theoretically be used to help train AI models, and so what you’re sharing with AI, you could potentially share with the world.
• Maintaining customer trust, data privacy, and responsible use is challenging. Integrating AI into banking operations requires a responsible manner to ensure customer data is protected and privacy regulations are followed.
• AI isn’t infallible. It feels infallible and smarter than us, since it can gather so much information, so quickly, and produce an intelligent, often personable, answer. But that doesn’t mean the information it gives you is always going to be accurate.
• AI may not ask you the right questions. True, sometimes an AI program won’t shut up, and it’ll ask you too many questions. But if you’re working with an AI program that doesn’t ask you a lot about your life, it may make incorrect assumptions about your financial situation.
• AI has limitations in providing personalized advice and lacks the human touch. Important financial decisions often require empathy and understanding that only a human advisor can provide.
• Risks with legacy systems, technological advancements, data collection, and cyber threats. Integrating AI technologies can expose banks to new risks, including compatibility issues with legacy systems, evolving cyber threats, and challenges in responsible data collection and management.

Granted, you could say that about a human offering banking advice as well. Humans aren’t exactly flawless either, and a banker or financial advisor may not probe enough and could give you information without knowing the full picture.

Still, Eric Croak, a certified financial planner and accredited wealth management advisor, and president of Croak Capital, argues that human advice shouldn’t be discounted.

Croak says that while AI can answer simple money questions like how much you should spend to stay within your budget, “AI isn’t aware of your daughter’s dreams of going to college out of state, the inheritance brouhaha among family members, or how your previous health issues could impact your retirement withdrawal rate.”

He adds, “AI is like an Excel sheet with a sassy voice. If you want to know how much your new mortgage payment will be when refinancing, an AI can likely give you an answer in two seconds.”

But he says your AI program won’t know that your budget’s being challenged because your wife has a business venture and your mom is moving in.

“AI can’t connect the dots,” Croak says.

If you have a relationship with a human financial professor, Croak feels that there’s a better chance the dots will be connected.

But that isn’t to say that you shouldn’t use AI to do financial research.

“The reason it is impressive is that it can do math really, really well,” says Croak. “Sample budgets? Pull it from an AI. Loan interest? Let it do the math. Comparing two flat-fee banks? Go for it. There are a ton of reasons AI is a helpful assistant. But that’s what AI should be used for: assisting.”

AI capabilities and gen AI are transforming investment banking and the broader financial services industry by enabling advanced data analysis, automating complex processes, and supporting better decision-making. However, careful AI integration and responsible use are essential to ensure these technologies deliver value while maintaining trust and compliance.

Consumers still prefer human financial advisors over AI

Sure, large groups of people get plenty of things wrong, and there’s something to be said for not following the crowd, but if it makes you feel any better, a lot of people are not yet on board with fully trusting AI for their banking advice.

For instance, Northwestern Mutual’s 2025 Planning & Progress Study surveyed 4,626 American adults aged 18 and older and found that 47% of them would prefer to work with a human financial advisor over solely working with AI. In fact, Gen Z and Millennials, who you would think might be super comfortable with AI, were more likely to prefer working with a human than older generations.

Primerica Canada’s Financial Security Monitor^™ (FSM^™) survey, meanwhile, polled 909 adults and found that 68% weren’t interested in using AI for financial advice.

None of this means that you shouldn’t be more or less excited to use AI to help you with your banking, but if you are wary, it may help to know that you aren’t alone. As financial institutions across the banking industry adopt AI, maintaining customer trust remains a key challenge. Ensuring ethical use of data and privacy protection is essential for building confidence as the banking sector evolves.

Still, one thing to consider. Banks use AI to help humans all the time. It’s a practice known as generative AI in banking. Banks use AI in helping detect fraud, and if you’ve “talked” with a chatbot on your phone or computer, asking questions on a banking website, that’s AI in action. AI is also transforming the customer experience across the financial sector and the broader financial services industry, making banking more efficient and responsive to consumer needs. Maybe it’s fitting that consumers use AI to help them do some of their banking.

AI’s lack of empathy and critical judgment

If you engage in a lengthy conversation with an AI program and receive what seems like wise advice, it’s easy to forget that this digital companion doesn’t truly know you. It has no awareness of your unique circumstances and cannot genuinely care about your well-being or the quality of its financial recommendations.

Ben Colman, co-founder and CEO of deepfake detection platform Reality Defender, says that these large language models, or LLMs, “are pattern-matching systems that predict the next, most probable word based on their training data and the conversation context.”

These models, Colman says, are analyzing information, but “they’re still fundamentally synthesizing patterns and orders of words rather than reasoning independently. They are well-read assistants, more or less, who can recall and regurgitate information with impressive accuracy, but without genuine comprehension or judgment. Their responses sound believable but lack critical thinking and understanding necessary for sound financial decision-making, making them not a proper substitute for human financial advisors.” This is where the human touch and human interaction become irreplaceable, as they provide the empathy, trust, and personalized guidance that AI applications cannot fully replicate.

Colman adds, “LLMs might find something you didn’t think about, but it’s always best to check with your FA (financial advisor) first.”

And if you don’t have a financial advisor, tax accountant or any professional you’re working with to bounce ideas off, at least be intelligent about your artificial intelligence research. When using AI applications for research, it’s important to do so in a responsible manner, ensuring that these tools complement, rather than replace, human expertise and judgment. You could get a second or third opinion from another AI platform. Visit reputable financial websites—hopefully including this one—and consider consulting a trusted family member knowledgeable about money. Think of it this way: If you were getting financial advice from a human, you might seek multiple opinions to ensure well-rounded guidance. The same principle applies to AI, especially when dealing with important financial decisions.

Even AI will caution you against relying solely on AI

Chances are, if you ask an AI program if you can trust it for financial advice, it may also tell you to be wary. We asked a few AI platforms what they suggest when it comes to trusting AI with questions about banks, money, and financial advice in general. Here’s what three of them said, all of them striking similar points.

Claude: “AI can be a useful starting point for understanding financial concepts and exploring general strategies, but it shouldn’t replace professional financial advice. AI systems like me don’t know your complete financial picture, can’t verify the accuracy of information you share, and may not be current on the latest tax laws or regulations.”

Claude droned on a little longer but ultimately landed with the advice: “Think of AI as a helpful research assistant, not as your financial advisor.”

ChatGPT: “AI can be a powerful starting point for financial advice, but not the final word. It’s like having a highly informed assistant who can analyze data, explain complex concepts, and surface options quickly — but it lacks human judgment, emotional nuance, and personal accountability. For major financial decisions — like investing, retirement planning, or debt management — AI should complement, not replace, expert human advice.”

Ever helpful, ChatGPT added that if we wanted a punchier quote, it would advise: “Trust AI for financial information, not final decisions.”

Grok: Grok also had a lot to say, including, “Financial decisions aren’t just numbers; they’re tied to life goals, stress, or family dynamics, which humans intuitively get but AI might oversimplify. And there’s always a risk of over-reliance — people might blindly follow AI without questioning, which is dangerous if the model’s wrong or outdated. My take? Use AI as a tool, not a guru.”

Bottom line

While AI offers impressive capabilities in banking, including fast data analysis, fraud detection, and personalized financial insights, it is important to remember its limitations. AI can be a valuable tool to assist with financial research and routine tasks, but it lacks the empathy, critical judgment, and comprehensive understanding that human advisors provide. Maintaining customer trust requires responsible AI integration, data privacy, and ethical use. Ultimately, combining AI-powered tools with human support ensures the best outcomes for consumers navigating the complex world of banking advice.