Nearly half of global consumers now use AI to guide savings and investment decisions

• 49% of global consumers have used AI to support savings and investment decisions in the past six months
• 18% have used AI to protect their personal financial data, and 50% believe it could help detect and prevent financial fraud
• Adoption of AI to manage finances is highest among Gen Z consumers, university graduates, and those in full-time employment

Consumers worldwide are increasingly turning to artificial intelligence (AI) to guide investment decisions and improve financial security, according to the second EY Global AI Sentiment Survey. The survey, which canvased more than 18,000 people across 23 countries, found that adoption of AI in financial services has accelerated over the past six months, driven by growing consumer appetite for practical use cases.

Nearly half (49%) of respondents say they have used AI to support savings and investment decisions in the past six months, while 18% have used it to protect their personal financial data, and 50% say they believe the technology could help detect and prevent financial fraud. In addition, 21% report using AI agents for financial product recommendations, and 18% say they use AI for budgeting, household finance management and trading support.

Omar Ali, EY Global Financial Services Leader, says:

“There is no doubt that Gen AI has moved firmly beyond the experimental phase, with a proof-point being consumers increasingly using the technology to guide their financial decision-making and protect their savings. As familiarity and use of AI for low-risk, everyday financial advice grows, openness to using it for more complex decision-making and a broader set of activities is the likely next step.

“An opportunity is opening up for banks, insurers, and wealth and asset managers to capture new market share and interact differently with their customers, as AI increasingly enables a growing number of consumers to engage with financial services and products. What is crucial at this juncture is that governance, compliance, and accountability frameworks keep pace with technological progress to help ensure trust and integrity is central to AI when it comes to financial services.”

Demand for financial guidance drives adoption

More than a third (37%) of respondents globally say they would find it “very” or “extremely” helpful for AI to provide personalized financial advice based on their data and preferences, or to automate claims, and financial decision-making processes.

Taking it one step further, over the last six months, 14% of respondents say they have allowed AI to select financial services providers on their behalf, while 11% say they have deferred to AI to manage their finances with little or no human intervention.

Preetham Peddanagari, EY Global Financial Services AI Co-Leader, says:

“Consumers are becoming more comfortable using AI for financial guidance, but it is trust that will determine how far and how fast adoption grows. Financial services firms must earn that trust by putting strong guardrails around AI-driven decisions and demonstrating transparency and accountability. The firms that get this right will be best placed to convert growing consumer interest into lasting confidence.”

Adoption varies by age, education, and employment

While AI adoption in financial services is growing overall, the survey reveals significant variation across demographic groups. Usage, perceived usefulness, and confidence are highest among younger consumers, those with university degrees, and people in full-time employment.

Gen Z respondents (aged 14-29) show the highest overall adoption, with 68% using AI for some aspect of financial management, followed by millennial respondents (aged 30-45) at 65%.

However, millennial respondents are found to be the most likely to use AI for financial product recommendations (31%), followed closely by Gen Z respondents at 30%, then Gen X respondents (those aged 46-61) at 18%, and baby boomer respondents (those aged 62-80) at 10%.

Millennial respondents are also most likely to use AI to support them in higher stakes use cases, including for fraud detection (where 37% of consumers said they use AI), financial advice (43%) and claims automation (41%). This compares with lower levels among Gen Z respondents, where 12% of consumers said they use AI for fraud detection and 14% for both financial advice and claims automation. Among Gen X respondents, 27% say they use AI across all three use cases; and among baby boomer respondents it is 22%, 15% and 17% respectively.

Education and employment shape confidence in AI

Higher levels of formal education and full-time employment status correlate strongly with greater confidence in AI.

Around half of consumers surveyed with an undergraduate university degree view AI as “very” or “extremely” helpful for fraud detection (50%), financial advice (52%), and claims automation (51%). This compares with lower levels among those with a high school education, where only 28% of respondents use AI for fraud detection, 25% for financial advice and claims automation.

The survey data finds that 28% of full-time worker respondents globally use AI to recommend financial products, compared with 23% of student respondents and 7% of retiree respondents.

Sameer Gupta, EY Global Financial Services AI Co-Leader, says:

“The adoption gap for AI-generated financial advice speaks to varying levels of digital literacy and consumer confidence in the technology across age groups. While millennials and Gen Z have grown up in an increasingly digital world, older generations often find AI less accessible. Closing the gap across generations will require AI providers and financial institutions to segment by age; empowering and building trust with the less digitally-savvy, while catering to different younger generations who consume and process AI advice differently. The key is not applying a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach.”

-ENDS-

Notes to editors

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Methodology

The AI Sentiment Index Study is based on research created by the global EY organization to better understand the ways people around the world use AI and how they think about its future. To inform this, EY Studio+ conducted a survey of 18,152 people from 23 countries (Australia, Brazil, Canada, the Chinese mainland, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, South Korea, Sweden, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States).

To make sure the results of the survey were representative of the population in each country a random stratified sampling approach was used with quotas on age (18 years and older), gender and location, based on local census data. To guarantee each country had an equal say, all results were statistically weighted. Because internet penetration is relatively low in countries such as India, the Chinese mainland, Brazil and Japan, any results from these countries should be viewed as representative of people who are internet enabled, rather than the general population.