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AI is already involved in some financial services Americans use, from credit decisions and fraud screening to customer-service chatbots. It may help firms process information or spot suspicious activity, but it can also make decisions harder to understand and create new risks. These seven examples describe reported uses—not features every bank offers or proof that AI improves financial outcomes for consumers.
1. AI can influence who gets credit
Lenders may use models to assess information about an applicant when deciding whether to offer credit. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has described the potential for newer models to evaluate applicants who might not be scored by traditional methods, or to make parts of underwriting more efficient. That possibility is not evidence that AI has made lending fairer or expanded access overall.
More data and more complex models can also make it difficult to understand why an application was denied. For a consumer, the practical result may be a credit decision whose reasons are not obvious from the information in an application.
2. Payment systems use AI to screen for fraud
Card issuers, payment networks, and processors use AI in efforts to detect payment fraud, according to the CFPB’s Consumer Credit Card Market Report to Congress (2025). A system can examine transaction patterns and flag activity that appears suspicious, potentially helping a provider stop an unauthorized payment or investigate it sooner.
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Screening is not a guarantee: no source cited here establishes that these systems catch every fraudulent transaction or eliminates mistaken flags. If a legitimate payment is declined or a transaction looks unfamiliar, check your account through the issuer’s official app, website, or phone number rather than responding to an unsolicited message.
3. Scammers can use AI, too
The same CFPB report says AI, including generative AI, is helping fuel payment-related fraud and impersonation scams. The technology can support more convincing or scalable deception, so AI’s role in finance is not limited to institutions trying to protect customers.
The Federal Reserve’s Report on the Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2025: Executive Summary, published in May 2026, reports that 20% of U.S. adults said they experienced financial fraud or scams during 2025. The report estimates total non-credit-card fraud at $100 billion in 2025, with $56 billion borne directly by consumers. These are the Fed report’s estimates, and the dollar figures concern non-credit-card fraud—not all fraud.
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Be wary of unexpected requests for money, passwords, verification codes, or account access, even if a message sounds personal or urgent. Verify the request using contact details from the institution’s official site or your card, not links or numbers in the message.
4. Chatbots handle some financial customer-service requests
Financial firms use automated assistants for customer requests. They may be convenient for a straightforward question, but CFPB research documents problems including inaccurate answers, repetitive loops, unresolved complaints, limited access to a person, and privacy or security concerns. The research discusses complaints and risks; it does not establish how often all financial chatbots fail.
A chatbot is a poor place to get stuck when an account is compromised, a payment is missing, or a deadline is approaching. Use the institution’s official app or website to find its customer-service channel, ask for a human representative if the bot cannot resolve the issue, and save relevant messages or case numbers. The CFPB cautions that chatbots should not be the primary customer-service channel when they cannot understand a person’s request or when the request conflicts with the system’s programming.
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5. AI-assisted financial advice is emerging
The CFPB’s 2025 credit-card market report describes AI-driven applications and interfaces for personal financial advice on credit cards as an emerging category. This is a specific, early-stage observation about credit-card advice—not evidence that AI tools can reliably optimize someone’s full financial life or replace a qualified adviser.
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6. AI may help route or process card disputes
The CFPB’s 2025 report also describes AI use in streamlining credit-card dispute-resolution procedures. A plausible role is helping route or process cases, but the report does not measure whether consumers get faster resolutions or better outcomes.
For a disputed charge, follow the card issuer’s formal dispute process and keep copies of receipts, account statements, messages, and confirmation numbers. Do not assume that an automated assistant or a flagged transaction has itself completed a formal dispute.
7. AI can screen for compliance and product risk
Financial institutions also use AI for compliance monitoring and fraud screening, including third-party risk scores, according to the CFPB. These systems may be invisible to a customer, yet can affect whether a transaction is approved or whether someone is offered or approved for a financial product.
The legal treatment depends on what the system is used to decide. The CFPB says existing U.S. consumer-finance laws apply when institutions use advanced technologies for lending and fraud screening. A score used to determine eligibility for a financial product may also raise Fair Credit Reporting Act requirements.
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What to do when an AI-assisted decision affects you
AI does not remove existing protections. For credit denials, the CFPB says a lender must provide accurate, specific reasons for adverse action even when a complex model makes those reasons difficult to identify. In a 2023 statement, then-CFPB Director Rohit Chopra put it plainly: “Creditors must be able to specifically explain their reasons for denial. There is no special exemption for artificial intelligence.”
- Read a denial notice carefully. Keep the notice and check that the stated reasons are specific enough to understand what affected the decision.
- Ask the lender about unclear reasons. Request an explanation through the contact channel on the notice; a complex algorithm does not excuse a vague or inaccurate reason.
- Use official channels for urgent account issues. Navigate to the institution’s app or website yourself, and ask for a person if an automated assistant cannot help.
- Keep records. Save notices, transaction details, dispute documents, case numbers, and relevant communications.
These are general descriptions of U.S. federal consumer protections, not individualized legal advice.
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