Over 28 million UK adults are now said to be turning to artificial intelligence to help manage their money – making personal finance the country’s number one use of AI. Lloyds Banking Group’s Consumer Digital Index is the UK’s study of digital and financial capability. The research study reveals that artificial intelligence has become a financial tool for people across the UK, as most or 56% of adults – around 28.8 million people – say they’ve “used AI in the past 12 months to help manage their money.”
Among them, ChatGPT is referenced as the most widely-ysed platform, used by six in 10 or about 60% of people. With more than half of people who use AI employing it “for budgeting, savings planning, or general financial education, it’s now a go-to resource.”
More than a third of users say they engage with AI for investment research and recommendations, “a quarter (26%) for debt management strategies, while almost four in 10 (39%) have turned to it for future financial planning, such as information on pensions.”
One in three people report using AI once a week or more to help with money matters – more than those “using it for health advice, shopping recommendations, travel planning or recipe ideas.”
The research highlights how AI can empower consumers to make “smarter choices, save more, and build financial resilience for the future.”
For example, users estimate they’ve saved an “average of £399 per year thanks to AI-generated insights.”
Over the past decade, Lloyds Banking Group’s Consumer Digital Index has tracked the UK’s ongoing shift “to digital-first living and the link between digital confidence and financial wellbeing.”
Today, almost nine in 10 people (87%) say they now feel confident “using the internet – a rise of more than four million people in just five years.”
In the last 10 years, Lloyds has seen the number of customers “using its mobile banking apps rise more than three-fold to over 21 million.”
Digital activity isn’t merely a habit – it’s said to be a sort of gateway to financial empowerment. People who use digital tools regularly are “significantly more likely to feel engaged and confident in managing their finances.” Two-thirds (66%) of internet users say “being online makes them feel more confident managing money.”
And the majority or 93% of those that said they feel confident using digital tools to manage their finances report “feeling knowledgeable enough to make informed decisions about their finances, compared to 62% of those lacking confidence.”
Among more confident internet users, the vast majority or 98% say being online has saved them a lot of time or financial resources. And for those not yet online, one in three believe better digital skills would “help them take greater control of their finances, highlighting the power of digital inclusion.”
Those with high digital capability are nearly 2x less likely to lose sleep over money worries, or to feel overwhelmed when thinking about their finances, when compared to those with relatively lower digital capability.
The Consumer Digital Index is the United Kingdom’s study of digital and financial capability. They reportedly aim to explore how people are responding to one of the most transformative technologies in the digital realm– artificial intelligence.