Banking on AI: By the Numbers
On the list of industries waiting to be disrupted by AI, where does banking fall? Famously risk-averse, bankers tend toward a “wait-and-see” approach when it comes to new technologies, looking for the compliance externalities that they’ll impose on an already-heavy regulatory burden.
But that hasn’t stopped opinions on the role of AI in banking from starting to form – from both financial institutions and the consumers they serve. In this latest edition of our newsletter, we condense a few surveys on the emerging AI orthodoxy in banking.
The financial institution perspective
Perhaps unsurprisingly, something of a consensus has emerged with regards to where bankers use AI at this early stage: defending against fraud. According to a recent Dentons survey, a leading 74% of financial services sector respondents said they were already using AI for IT and cybersecurity purposes.
The sentiment is echoed in another recent survey on AI of 100 risk, compliance, and validation (RCV) officers by the IBM Institute for Business Value: “61% of executives say fraud risk detection will provide the biggest boost to business value, with cybersecurity close behind at 52%. 45% of these executives also believe that AI will significantly transform AML and KYC processes.”
This early use case makes sense, being that AI processes are borne from analysis of both structured and unstructured data, and identifying fraud is a process of finding aberrations within such datasets. Fraud is also an obvious area of inquiry due to how cost-intensive both defending against, and suffering from, fraud attacks can be.
However, both surveys reflect bankers’ reticence to bring AI outside the back-office: fewer than 40% of IBM’s respondents see more business-oriented processes as a major source of value. According to Dentons, “many banks still have concerns about deploying AI in key operational areas of their businesses, resulting in a lack of clear direction on the technology.” In fact, Dentons found that just 29% of financial services sector respondents had a formal AI roadmap or internal strategy in place.
Some of the biggest concerns surrounding AI usage in both surveys pertained to the human element, and how well they’ll digest insights surfaced by AI. The biggest concern for Dentons respondents was that lack of human influence on certain tasks would lead to errors (57%), followed by the weakening of the human talent pipeline through reliance on technology (52%) and skills gaps (49%).
The latter concern is reflected in IBM’s survey as well: RCV officers found significant AI talent gaps in dealing with model validation (61%) and risk control (46%).
The consumer perspective
Consumers tend to be more accepting of integrating AI into their financial lives, and the desire cuts along generational lines. A report by Experian found that 67% of polled Gen Zers and 62% of millennials are using artificial intelligence to help with their personal finances, using tools like Claude to help with saving and budgeting (60%), investment planning (48%) and credit score improvement (48%), among others.
The survey indicates demand for comprehensive LLM platforms to generate financial insights, and community banks especially should heed the fact that users are flexing tools like ChatGPT into their own financial advisor. According to a recent Datos Insights report, only 44% of community bank customers are satisfied with digitally delivered advice compared to 67% of Big Four customers, “indicating a significant opportunity for improvement in personalized, digital financial guidance.”
One area where bankers and consumers have found common ground are their strong opinions on the pace of development in AI. One of the most curious findings from the 2025 Axios Harris Poll 100 was that 77% of Americans want companies to take their time in developing AI and get it right the first time – a sentiment echoed in bankers’ cautious approach to implementing this technology.
Narmi’s perspective
Our own development philosophy aligns with this consensus: at Narmi, we’re looking to create products at a methodical pace, and our approach is borne from a collaborative relationship with the financial institutions that stand to benefit from these technologies.
While financial institutions work to sound out the regulatory environment and achieve optimal data governance, we're focused on building AI solutions that empower their teams. That means respecting the intricacies of the banking industry and its people. What results is AI that allows financial institutions to maintain trust, enhance productivity, and confidently meet their regulatory obligations.
“A phased implementation of AI technology allows financial institutions to properly align to business cases, intentionally grow usage to match the pace of development and regulation, and allows staff to grow accustomed to having conversations about AI on terms informed by their experiences.” - Narmi co-founder Chris Griffin in The Financial Brand
Additional Reading on AI in Banking:
Why Incremental Progress on AI in Banking Will Be the Best Way Forward (The Financial Brand)
Operational risks: Why the banking industry is still nervous about AI (Dentons)
Banking in the AI era: The risk management of AI and with AI (IBM Institute for Business Value)
Americans are embracing Gen AI to make smart money moves (Experian)
Primary Banking’s Diminishing Hold: A Financial Behavior Series Report (Datos Insights)
Americans to business: Take AI slow and do it right (Axios/Harris Poll 100)
Narmi Company News
Join Narmi for Innovators Retreat in September!
We'll be having a series of insightful discussions on topics from AI to full-platform banking -- all situated within the seaside beauty of La Jolla, San Diego: register now!
Product Updates
Subscribe to Narmi LaunchNotes for updates on the Narmi product.
Open Positions
We’re growing, and hiring across our organization! A few new job posts below. Be sure to check out the Narmi Careers page for more.
Customer Success Manager (New York, NY/Hybrid)
Product Manager - Financial Intelligence (New York, NY/Hybrid)
Lead Software Engineer - Narmi Grow (New York, NY/Hybrid)