Ask an AI assistant for generic money advice and you'll get generic answers. Give it access to your actual financial data and it can tell you where your money is going, whether you can afford that holiday, or which subscriptions you've forgotten about. That is where AI in financial services gets genuinely useful, and consumers are already moving in that direction.
But how consumers give AI that access matters a great deal. It determines how secure your data is, whether you are protected if something goes wrong, and how much control you keep over your data. Right now, three distinct levels of access and control are emerging, each with different trade-offs.
One way to give access is using open banking. It provides a ready made, secure and regulated means of access for AI. Even more financial accounts could be accessible in this way as Governments and regulators explore the move to open finance.
But what other ways can you give AI access to your financial data? And what are the benefits and drawbacks?
You can broadly categorise these access and control options into three levels:
- Uploading financial data directly to AI
Uploading financial data directly to AI
- Sharing passwords for financial accounts with AI
Sharing passwords for financial accounts with AI
- Connecting AI via regulated open banking third parties
Connecting AI via regulated open banking third parties
Let’s look at them in more detail:
Level 1: Uploading financial data to AI
The simplest approach is to take your statements, PDFs or exports from your bank and upload them to an AI tool. It is already common. According to the Mills review on AI and the future of retail financial services, 24% of consumers who use AI in financial services report uploading personal financial data.
The pros:
- Relatively quick, once you have extracted the data from your financial provider.
Relatively quick, once you have extracted the data from your financial provider.
- It doesn't break your provider's terms of service. It is your financial data, and you are free to share it.
It doesn't break your provider's terms of service. It is your financial data, and you are free to share it.
- The AI can tailor its responses to your actual financial situation, rather than giving generic advice.
The AI can tailor its responses to your actual financial situation, rather than giving generic advice.
The cons:
- It needs manual steps. You have to find, download and upload the data yourself, every time.
It needs manual steps. You have to find, download and upload the data yourself, every time.
- It isn't real time. The AI's insights are only as up to date as the last document you uploaded.
It isn't real time. The AI's insights are only as up to date as the last document you uploaded.
- There is no data minimisation. A statement contains everything: every payment, every merchant, every balance, every payee. You are handing over all of it.
There is no data minimisation. A statement contains everything: every payment, every merchant, every balance, every payee. You are handing over all of it.
Level 2: Sharing passwords for financial accounts with AI
The next step up is to give an AI agent your online banking login details so it can connect to your accounts directly. This removes the manual work. It is also where the risks start to stack up.
The pros:
- The AI can connect directly to your accounts for real-time insights.
The AI can connect directly to your accounts for real-time insights.
- Once the connection is set up, it takes little effort from you.
Once the connection is set up, it takes little effort from you.
- Responses are tailored to your actual financial situation.
Responses are tailored to your actual financial situation.
- The AI potentially has ‘read’ and ‘write’ access, meaning it could make payments as well as view data on your behalf.
The AI potentially has ‘read’ and ‘write’ access, meaning it could make payments as well as view data on your behalf.
The cons:
- You may be in breach of your financial provider's terms of service by sharing your password. That can leave you liable for anything that goes wrong, and could even lead to your account being closed.
You may be in breach of your financial provider's terms of service by sharing your password. That can leave you liable for anything that goes wrong, and could even lead to your account being closed.
- There is no data minimisation. The AI has access to everything in your account, not just what it needs.
There is no data minimisation. The AI has access to everything in your account, not just what it needs.
- There is no clear boundary on what the agent can do. Activity within your account can persist beyond your initial instructions, which creates real security concerns. An agent logged in as you can look exactly like you, so it is hard for a bank to tell when something has gone wrong. US banks have raised the alarm on this topic.
There is no clear boundary on what the agent can do. Activity within your account can persist beyond your initial instructions, which creates real security concerns. An agent logged in as you can look exactly like you, so it is hard for a bank to tell when something has gone wrong.
- Revoking access usually means changing your password, and there is no simple, granular way to say 'stop' to one agent while keeping everything else running.
Revoking access usually means changing your password, and there is no simple, granular way to say 'stop' to one agent while keeping everything else running.
Level 3: Connecting AI via regulated open banking third parties
The third option is to connect AI to your accounts through a regulated open banking provider. Instead of handing over a password, you are redirected securely to your bank, where you choose exactly what to share and for how long. The AI never sees your credentials.
The pros:
- The AI can connect directly to your accounts for real-time insights.
The AI can connect directly to your accounts for real-time insights.
- It’s low effort for you. You set up the connection once through a secure redirect to your bank.
It’s low effort for you. You set up the connection once through a secure redirect to your bank.
- It is aligned with regulation and with your financial provider's terms of service.
It is aligned with regulation and with your financial provider's terms of service.
- Data minimisation is built in. You choose the specific scope of data the AI can access.
Data minimisation is built in. You choose the specific scope of data the AI can access.
- It is easy to end. You can revoke access or consent at any time, and the connection stops.
It is easy to end. You can revoke access or consent at any time, and the connection stops.
- Read and write access is possible. An agent can access the data you have permissioned and, where you have authorised it, make payments on your instructions and within limits you set.
Read and write access is possible. An agent can access the data you have permissioned and, where you have authorised it, make payments on your instructions and within limits you set.
The cons:
- Not every financial account is accessible through secure open banking APIs. In the UK, coverage today is limited to payment accounts. Savings, investments, pensions and mortgages are largely out of scope.
Not every financial account is accessible through secure open banking APIs. In the UK, coverage today is limited to payment accounts. Savings, investments, pensions and mortgages are largely out of scope.
That coverage gap is a real issue, but open finance rules are being introduced to create secure, permissioned connections to a broader range of accounts. The risk is timing: AI adoption in financial services is moving so quickly that consumers are settling into the behaviours in Levels 1 and 2 before a safer alternative is available for the full range of their finances. Habits are hard to change once they are formed.
What does this mean?
Consumers want AI that understands their finances, and they are going to find a way to give it access. The question for the industry and for policymakers is whether the easiest route is also the safest one.
Access through open banking is the only approach where consent is explicit, the scope is limited, and the consumer can pull access at any point. That is the same principle that has underpinned open banking since the start: you stay in control of your data, and you decide who gets to use it and for what.
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