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A FIS survey of 2,000 UK adults found that 22% are ready to hand day-to-day money management to an AI assistant, while 58% are not. Many already use generative AI or banking-app assistants for financial help, but willingness falls when AI would move money or make decisions independently.
Only 22% of UK adults say they are ready to let an AI assistant manage their money day to day, while 58% are not, according to a FIS survey of 2,000 adults reported by Finextra. The results point to a divide between using AI for financial guidance and authorising it to take action with a person’s money.
The survey found that 58% had used generative AI tools such as ChatGPT or Claude in the previous 12 months for a money-related task, including budgeting, answering an account question or choosing a financial product. Nearly two-thirds said they expected to use such tools for financial help in the next 12 months. Separately, 56% had used an AI assistant in a banking app for something related to their money in the past year.
Those figures describe reported use, not permission for AI to make decisions or carry out transactions. Half of respondents said they had never heard of agentic banking, a term for AI carrying out banking tasks on a customer’s behalf. The survey suggests that familiarity with conversational or advisory tools does not automatically translate into trust in systems that can act.
Comfort varied by task. Respondents were most open to AI flagging or freezing a suspicious charge (56%), paying a recurring bill they had previously approved (52%), or rounding up purchases into savings (51%). They were less comfortable with AI sending money to another person or business (38%), opening a savings or deposit account (35%), or applying for a loan or credit card (30%).
Trust Falls When AI Moves Money
The findings matter to banks and payment providers considering AI features because they show that customer acceptance depends on the level of control involved. A tool that answers questions or highlights a possible problem may feel different from one that can transfer funds, open accounts or take on credit applications without a person making the final choice.
Respondents also expressed limits around spending authority. More than half would not allow an AI assistant in their banking app to spend or move any money without first approving the transaction. Among those willing to grant some authority, 35% would cap it at £250 or less; only 5% would allow more than £500 or set no limit. These responses indicate that the ability to set transaction limits could be a key condition for adoption, though the survey does not establish how people would behave when using a real product.
For customers, the distinction affects how much oversight they retain over everyday finances. For firms, it raises practical questions about consent, safeguards and responsibility if an automated action is wrong. FIS’s survey records consumer views; it does not measure the performance or safety of any particular AI banking system.
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AI Use Is Ahead of Delegation
The survey describes several forms of AI use together, but they involve different levels of authority. Asking a general-purpose tool for budgeting help, using an assistant inside a bank app, and allowing an agent to execute a transaction are not equivalent activities. The reported use rates should not be read as evidence that respondents have authorised autonomous management of their accounts.
Willingness also differed by age group. Millennials were most likely to say they were ready to hand over day-to-day money management, at 33%, followed by Gen Z at 27% and Gen X at 15%. The figures were 8% for adults aged 62 to 69 and 3% for those aged 70 and older. Finextra also reported that younger UK adults were less willing than their US counterparts: 61% of US millennials and 58% of US Gen Z respondents said they were ready. The supplied report does not provide further detail on how the survey measured or compared those national responses.
Survey Limits and Open Questions
The reported results do not establish whether respondents were considering a specific banking product or a general idea of AI managing money. The supplied material also does not give the survey fieldwork dates, respondent breakdown beyond age groups, question wording, or margin of error. Those details would help readers judge how closely the answers reflect likely behaviour.
It is also unclear how many people who have used AI for financial help would be willing to let it execute particular transactions under defined safeguards. The survey reports broad comfort levels for selected tasks, but does not say how views might change with spending caps, confirmation steps, cancellation options or clear explanations of liability. No specific bank product launch or regulatory change is identified in the report.
Banks Face a Consent Test
The survey does not announce a new service or set out a timetable for agentic banking. The immediate next step for banks, based on Pandit’s comments, is to build around tasks respondents already find more acceptable, while giving customers control over permissions and transaction limits. Any such features would need to explain what the assistant can do and who is responsible if it makes an error.
For now, the findings show interest in AI assistance but caution about delegation. Whether that balance shifts will depend in part on how banks design and explain tools that can act, rather than simply provide information, and on whether customers trust the safeguards offered.
Key Questions
How many UK adults are ready to let AI manage their money?
In the FIS survey of 2,000 UK adults, 22% said they were ready to hand day-to-day money management to an AI assistant; 58% said they were not.
Are UK adults already using AI for financial help?
Yes. The survey found 58% had used generative AI for a money-related task in the previous 12 months, while 56% had used an AI assistant within a banking app for something related to their money.
Which money tasks are people most comfortable letting AI handle?
Respondents were most comfortable with AI flagging or freezing a suspicious charge (56%), paying a previously approved recurring bill (52%), and rounding up purchases into savings (51%).
How much money would respondents let an AI assistant move?
More than half would not allow an AI assistant in their banking app to spend or move money without their approval. Among those willing to allow it, 35% would set a limit of £250 or less; 5% would allow more than £500 or set no limit.
Source: finextra.com
