Consumers hesitant about AI in finance

Financial institutions are gearing up for scenarios where artificial intelligence systems create accounts for clients, though most people remain hesitant to surrender decision-making authority. A recent Signicat study reveals that while 65% of consumers support AI helping with financial processes, they insist on maintaining final control over outcomes.

The report, The Battle to Onboard 2026: The AI Reality Check, analyzes consumer and financial service provider perspectives across Europe as the sector adopts AI-driven solutions. Findings show that 60% of Europeans have quit online financial applications in the past year—a decline from 68% in Signicat’s 2022 findings.

Persistent Onboarding Challenges

Dr. Leda Glyptis, Chair of Bourn AI’s Board, highlighted the striking persistence of application abandonment despite heavy industry investment in digital tools. She remarked, “That means as an industry we are not listening to consumers properly, nor understanding their limits.”

Users point to cumbersome data collection and extended procedures as primary reasons for dropping out. Just 15% would allow AI to authenticate their identity digitally for banking purposes, and only 14% would permit AI to sign account-opening contracts on their behalf.

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Financial providers are far ahead of consumer readiness for AI-driven onboarding, 79% of institutions claim preparedness for AI-initiated applications, while merely 14% of customers feel comfortable with AI independently opening financial products.

Trust Levels in AI Applications

While consumers currently use AI for tasks like generating recipes (42%) and composing emails (38%), their willingness varies sharply with risk exposure. Only 8% would authorize AI to handle high-value transactions, and 19% would trust it with smaller purchases.

Most prefer AI as a supportive tool rather than a fully autonomous system: 65% want AI assistance during financial applications, but only 11% would let AI complete the process independently. Traditional financial institutions enjoy nearly double the trust (44%) compared to AI providers (23%) when it comes to safeguarding personal data.

The study also uncovered that countries with advanced digital infrastructure don’t necessarily lead in AI acceptance for financial services. Norway, Europe’s top digital ID adopter, ranks as the least comfortable with AI-initiated account openings (79% opposed). Similar skepticism exists in Finland (78%) and Sweden (73%), while 69% of UK consumers share this hesitation.