Survey: 29% of Europeans prefer AI to bankers for sensitive financial issues
A new EOS poll finds rising trust in AI for fraud detection and alerts, but many customers still want human oversight for loans.
The German financial group EOS published a survey today, 15 October 2026, showing that nearly one in three Europeans would rather discuss sensitive financial matters with artificial intelligence than with a bank employee: 29 percent of respondents chose AI for such topics. Among 18–34 year‑olds the share rises to 38 percent.
Key findings and consumer attitudes
The poll, conducted among 4,400 respondents across 11 European countries, also finds that 46 percent believe AI has improved communication with their bank over the past three years, while only 11 percent report a deterioration.
Respondents express greater confidence in technology when it comes to spotting fraud: 44 percent said they trust artificial intelligence more than a bank employee to detect suspicious transactions and fraud attempts. By contrast, when it comes to loan approvals only 24 percent would prefer AI to make the decision and 46 percent place greater trust in a human reviewer.
The study shows strong appetite for operational AI features: 61 percent of European consumers would like automatic AI alerts when their account is in danger of exceeding its allowed balance. More than half of those surveyed listed easier information retrieval, faster communication and constant availability as the main advantages of using AI services in banking.
But trust has limits: 60 percent feel automated systems lack a human touch in communication, 46 percent worry about wrong decisions by the technology, and 35 percent voiced concerns about the protection of personal data.
The results underline a shift in customer expectations as banks balance demand for quicker, more accessible services with the requirement to provide human contact for complex financial decisions.
Photo: press material from the event
