Consumers are Using AI to Find Their Next Bank, But Still Don’t Trust Its Advice
By Corey Wrinn, managing director at Rivel Banking Research
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When it comes to customers who are looking for new banking products or to change banks, artificial intelligence has arrived. Consumers are asking ChatGPT which credit card offers the best rewards, querying Perplexity about mortgage rates and letting AI summarize complex financial products.
Reality check: Yes, many consumers are treating AI as a personal assistant — ask a question, look for advice, try to better understand a new term or offer. But even as usage increases, consumers and small businesses still do not fundamentally trust what AI tells them.
Need to Know:
- According to exclusive research from Rivel Banking Research, only 29% of banking consumers completely or highly trust AI output when making banking decisions. Nearly three-quarters of your potential customers are using a tool they don’t fully believe in to make critical financial choices.
The Generational Trust Gap
The generational breakdown of the Rivel research results also tells an unexpected story. Based on a recent national survey of banking consumers, Millennials lead at 40%, with trust in AI recommendations (hardly a ringing endorsement), Gen X follows at 33%, then Boomers at 17%.
The surprise? Gen Z registers just 18% trust in AI outputs — lower than Boomers.
What explains this generational “barbell” in AI trust?
Millennial and Gen X consumers are so busy running their lives, families and jobs, they need an answer quickly and perhaps simply don’t have the time to dig in further. For these groups, convenience trumps skepticism — they are willing to give AI a chance, especially if it saves them time. Still, only 37% trust the initial response. The middle generations, pressed for time, but aware of limitations, are most adaptable but not necessarily more trusting.
It’s a nuanced landscape: Trust in AI is not just a function of age, but of lifestyle demands, digital literacy and each generation’s unique relationship with technology.
On the other side of the age gap, Gen Z’s digital fluency means they’re more aware of potential pitfalls, misinformation and biases in AI-generated content. Meanwhile, Boomers’ lower trust may stem from less familiarity with AI and a stronger general preference for human advice.
Ultimately, this barbell effect reveals that while AI adoption is growing, confidence in its advice remains uneven across all segments. For banks, understanding these differences is crucial to building trust and designing buying experiences that meet customers where they are.
AI Can’t Read Your Customers’ Minds (Yet)
When we asked why certain consumers don’t trust AI for banking decisions, 52% of banking consumers said recommendations from AI lack human context and nuance.
This isn’t a technical problem. It’s about consumers and businesses being able to fundamentally analyze their financial options from a source that’s reliable and understandable. The promise of AI is exactly that — it distills complex ideas and options into a concise bite of information — but it’s clear that users are still learning how to use it consistently.
A 30-year-old asking about mortgage options might be juggling student debt, planning for a first child or caring for aging parents. AI doesn’t know that. It can’t read between the lines to understand the full financial picture. Due to the very nature of “quick answers,” users aren’t inputting all the necessary information or providing the ideal prompt.
The opportunity: Banks and credit unions can fill that gap for users who are chatting and searching for basic terms. This context gap creates an immediate opportunity for banks with content.
Content as the Competitive Edge
Consumers are already using AI for banking product decisions, despite some skepticism. The question isn’t whether AI will aid the banking discovery process — it already does — the question is whose information AI will surface when consumers ask?
Right now, that information ecosystem is controlled by third parties. Comparison sites, fintech marketing, financial influencers and aggregated reviews dominate AI training data and search results. Banks are losing their first conversation with potential customers.
The strategic response isn’t to fight AI or ignore it. It’s to become the authoritative source that AI references when consumers and businesses ask banking questions. 50% of consumers told us that they don’t trust AI responses when they don’t recognize the referenced source.
This isn’t marketing fluff; this is putting a stake into the ground so that LLMs can reference your institution and your definitive brand, offering and positioning. In other words, you’re not creating blog posts to improve SEO, you’re building a knowledge base that positions your institution as the expert AI turns to when consumers need context-aware financial guidance. The same goes for local news articles, website updates and interviews with your team that the community sees.
Three Ways to Take Control of the Narrative
1. Address the context gap head-on. Write about how life stages impact financial decisions. Explain how local market conditions affect mortgage strategies. Provide frameworks for thinking about risk tolerance that go beyond generic questionnaires.
2. Think comprehensively. Consumers using AI are not asking narrow questions. They’re seeking understanding of entire financial landscapes. Connect the dots between products, explain tradeoffs and acknowledge complexity. Consider bundles in both product and experience — funding a CD from an existing checking account at the same bank can offer a seamless experience.
3. Emphasize what AI can’t do. Deepen banking expertise, personalize understanding and provide in-person offerings when needed. Make it clear that behind every piece of content is institutional knowledge, local history within that market and recognition that every customer’s situation is unique.
The First-Mover Advantage
Banks still have inherent advantages: Consumers value security, stability and expertise. But those advantages evaporate when third-party AI platforms become the primary source of financial information. Building content and marketing strategies that evolve your bank from just one of many to focusing on specific goals and target audiences will elevate your presence and consideration.
Banks that win in an AI-mediated marketplace will shape the information ecosystem rather than react to it. They will invest in content creation as a strategic lever, not a marketing add-on. Think of measuring success differently: the share of AI citations displayed and presence in AI-generated responses, for example, not just immediate conversions.
Most importantly, this content can help shift the sentiment that 52% of consumers don’t trust AI because it lacks human context and allow them to see the results as real or comfortable.
The window is open, but it won’t stay open forever. Consumers are forming habits right now. AI platforms are training on data that exists today. The institutions that move first will own the customer relationships of the next decade.
