4 Ways to Build Trust When Communicating AI's Role in Financial Services
Financial institutions face a critical challenge: customers want innovation but remain wary of artificial intelligence handling their money. This article outlines four proven strategies for building consumer confidence in AI-powered financial services, backed by insights from industry experts. Learn how transparent communication and thoughtful implementation can transform skepticism into trust.
Lead With Customer Benefit Reduce Skepticism
I find there are two types of AI-use in finance and I get two different reactions when speaking to customers about them.
1) First is AI use for the actual customer - so, an AI tool that lets them compare mortgage providers more effectively, for example. Or helps them organize their monthly budget, or track their spending, or complete their accounts for them.
2) Second is when AI is used by financial service providers themselves to provide an existing service, but one that's enhanced or replaced with AI. This is where people are sceptical.
Instead of the thought process here being "this benefits me the customer" it instead goes to "this benefits the financial organization". And I think that's a fair response - are we actually seeing prices come down or services improve in financial services because of AI? Or are we just seeing corners and costs cut for organizations that aren't being passed onto the customer? Perhaps it will level out with younger AI-embracing competition entering the market to disrupt service and pricing models - but so far I do think the general public are sceptical when it comes to AI usage in finance. And that's not even covering the data protection concerns many have with LLMs as well...
Set Clear Guardrails While Humans Decide
When we first rolled out AI into billing and financial workflows we didn't lead with tech at all. We led with intent. I remember a call where a customer asked are you replacing people with AI and I said look no this is about fewer errors and faster answers not fewer humans. That pause mattered.
So how did we message it ? We framed AI as a helper not a decision maker. AI flags issues humans decide. Simple. Clear. Repeated often. We showed examples real ones where AI caught billing anomalies early and saved customers time and money. No hype.
But what does this mean for trust It grew. Customers appreciated transparency. We explained what data we used what AI could do and what it absolutely couldn't do. Honestly that last part mattered most.
The takeaway Talk about AI like you'd talk about a new teammate. Explain its role. Set boundaries. People trust clarity way more than buzzwords.
Limit Underwriting Automation and Protect Privacy
We use AI in part when doing our underwriting and this is the only time artificial intelligence comes in touch with our customers' data. We explain that the data is completely private and that once the underwriting process is done, the data can only be accessed by our team. We're very transparent about this and customers appreciate the honesty. We've had numerous comments about the lack of our AI use and how it's good for privacy and the environment.
Compare Processes Then Encourage Questions
I made a video for our clients showing manual bookkeeping next to our new AI-assisted process. It's just a clear comparison of the steps and results. The AI helps spot errors faster, but we still personally review everything. I tell people to ask any question they have. Being that direct about the technology and listening to their concerns is what seems to make them comfortable with us.
