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.

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.

scale innovation safely and gain a real competitive advantage in a market that is still maturing."

Răzvan Pîrnac, Partner, Financial Services Risk Management, EY Romania: “Romania reflects the same shift highlighted in recent EY research, where artificial intelligence is moving from experimentation into everyday financial decisions, but with strong local contrasts. We already have a modern financial infrastructure, with over 26 million active bank cards, according to the National Bank of Romania, yet only around one third of Romanians use internet banking services, based on Eurostat data. At the same time, various recent studies show that nearly 7 in 10 Romanians are already using AI in their daily lives, which mirrors the global trend identified by EY of consumers turning to AI for guidance and decision-making. However, fewer than 20% use AI on a regular basis, and less than 6% of companies have integrated it in a structured way, underlining a key challenge for Romania: turning growing familiarity with AI into trusted, well governed and genuinely useful adoption, especially in areas like finance, where confidence and transparency matter most.”

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.

About the study

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.