72% of Consumers Say Personalization Shapes Where They Bank

Although conversational artificial intelligence can cut wait times and reduce service costs for banks, the real prize could be won elsewhere.

Trust, long considered fragile in digital banking, can be built through the use of intelligent assistants, according to the PYMNTS Intelligence report “Beyond the Bot: Why Embedded Conversational AI Is Banking’s Next Strategic Advantage.”

Embedding AI into customer interactions is more than a technology upgrade. The findings signal a shift in the business model of banking itself. Early adopters are discovering that when digital assistants act less like search boxes and more like financial advisers, the payoff is not just efficiency but stronger customer relationships, higher satisfaction and, ultimately, new revenue streams.

However, the report also stresses that banks that treat conversational AI as a plug-in feature rather than a core strategy risk repeating the mistakes of legacy chatbots that left customers frustrated and distrustful.

Twenty-nine percent of customers are satisfied with chatbot support, compared with 60% for mobile apps and 57% for ATMs, underscoring how poorly first-generation bots have performed.

Seventy-two percent of consumers say personalization influences where they bank, pointing to the weight customers place on relevance and context in financial interactions.

Sixty-four percent of consumers prefer that companies avoid AI in customer service if it blocks human access, illustrating the thin line between trust and churn when automation feels like a barrier instead of a bridge.

These numbers highlight a perception gap. Banks see AI as a cost reducer, but consumers judge it as a trust builder, or breaker.

The report suggests that bridging this divide requires more than smarter code. It means designing with transparency, giving customers a clear path to human help and ensuring that personalization feels helpful rather than invasive.

Other findings point to why this matters now. Voice interfaces are emerging as the next frontier, with funding in voice AI surging eightfold in 2024 and costs dropping to make deployment affordable at scale.

Early adopters such as SoFi and Bank of America show the upside. SoFi cut chat abandonment in half, while Bank of America credits its digital assistant, Erica, with helping deliver record satisfaction scores and contributing to a 19% earnings boost.

At the same time, regulators are sharpening their focus on AI, with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau warning about transparency, bias and privacy. Only 1 in 10 bank executives feels prepared for that scrutiny, per the report.

The broader conclusion is that conversational AI is moving from helpdesk to revenue engine. The future of banking may hinge less on slick apps than on empathetic, context-aware conversations that make customers feel understood in the moment.