Artificial intelligence (AI) and generative AI can turn vast, complex data into tailored financial insights, offering services such as real-time financial coaching or empathetic behavioural nudges.
Voice-first interfaces, alternative-data credit scoring and human-like digital coaches are helping break barriers related to literacy, language and limited financial history.
As AI becomes embedded in finance, trust must be foundational – institutions need explainable AI, strong bias mitigation and strict data privacy practices.
Redefining personal financial well-being
The fundamental promise of AI in finance lies in its ability to translate vast streams of data into deeply personal and actionable insights. By ingesting a rich tapestry of information – from real-time transaction data and market signals to behavioural patterns and stated life goals, AI is dismantling the generic financial model.
This hyper-personalization engine is creating proactive, predictive and truly supportive financial journeys.
Well-being nudges: AI’s capacity for continuous engagement transforms financial health. By detecting behavioural triggers associated with financial stress, such as missed payments or a sudden increase in high-interest debt, these systems can deliver empathetic, context-aware nudges. These prompts suggest practical alternatives, connect users to helpful resources and foster positive habits that build long-term economic resilience.
AI-powered financial coaching: Going far beyond simple budget trackers, new platforms act as 24-seven financial coaches. By analysing spending habits and cash flow, these systems don’t just categorize expenses; they identify savings opportunities, preemptively warn of potential shortfalls and offer tailored strategies to build emergency funds, making financial discipline an intuitive and automated process.
Dynamic retirement and wealth planning: AI is democratizing long-term wealth creation. Robo-advisors now use reinforcement learning to continuously model and adjust investment strategies based on an individual’s evolving income, risk appetite and market conditions. This ensures a user’s long-term financial plan is not a static document but a living strategy that adapts to their life.
The new frontier of financial inclusion
If traditional AI provides an analytical engine, GenAI offers a human-centric interface, redefining financial inclusion by bridging the critical gaps in language, literacy and trust. This is particularly transformative for demographics often left behind by digital transformations, marking a major step forward in AI-powered financial inclusion.
As recent analyses by the World Economic Forum have highlighted, gender and rural inclusion are two of the most significant hurdles to achieving global economic equality. GenAI directly addresses these dimensions. In rural India, one of the most impactful examples of AI-powered financial inclusion is the use of voice-first interfaces in local dialects, enabling users with limited literacy to make payments and manage their accounts.
In Latin America, fintechs are pioneering new paths to credit. In Brazil and Mexico, firms such as Nubank and Konfío utilize AI-driven credit scoring models that analyse alternative data sources – including utility payments and business cash flow – to serve millions of previously unbanked individuals and small business owners.
Instead of relying on impersonal chatbots, the market is shifting toward 24-seven GenAI-powered financial coaches that can explain complex financial concepts in simple terms, simulate the impact of financial decisions and provide empathetic guidance during moments of uncertainty, building confidence and capability.
Navigating the ethical and regulatory landscape
As AI becomes more deeply embedded in our financial lives, trust is no longer a feature; it is the fundamental product. The immense power of these systems carries an equal weight of responsibility. Financial institutions cannot afford to treat ethics as an afterthought; they must integrate it into the core of their AI strategy.
The global regulatory landscape is rapidly maturing to reflect this imperative. The European Union’s AI Act, for instance, has established a global benchmark for risk-based controls, demanding transparency, fairness and accountability in high-stakes applications such as credit scoring. To build and maintain trust, financial institutions must responsibly integrate AI by:
Upholding data privacy and consent: Consent-driven data usage and clear data provenance are prerequisites for customer trust. Customers must have clear control over their data and understand how it is being used to power personalized services.
Championing explainable AI: Ensuring that both internal auditors and external customers can understand the logic behind an AI-driven decision is non-negotiable. Transparent, audit-ready credit systems empower customers to understand and if necessary, dispute outcomes.
Proactively mitigating bias: AI models trained on historical data risk perpetuating historical biases. Institutions must implement rigorous frameworks to detect and mitigate bias, ensuring algorithms provide fair and equitable outcomes across all demographics.
A call for collaborative governance
Realizing the promise of AI for all requires a new compact of partnership and shared governance. No single entity can solve this alone. The path forward requires a united front among regulators, financial institutions, fintech innovators and governments.
- Regulators must create agile frameworks and “regulatory sandboxes” that encourage responsible innovation while establishing clear, enforceable rules on transparency and fairness.
- Fintechs and financial institutions must collaborate to share best practices on ethical AI development and deploy solutions designed with the most vulnerable users in mind.
- Governments play a crucial role in promoting digital and financial literacy and in investing in public infrastructure to ensure no one is left behind in the digital transformation.
Working in concert, this ecosystem can ensure that the principles of fairness, privacy, and innovation are held in balance, creating a digital financial future grounded in AI-powered financial inclusion that uplifts rather than excludes. The way forward is clear: by shaping AI responsibly, we can empower every individual to achieve financial health, building a more resilient, equitable and prosperous global society for generations to come.
By: Roshan Shetty (Head, Banking, Financial Services and Insurance (BFSI) and Public Sector, Tech Mahindra (Americas), Inc.)
Originally published at: World Economic Forum
