One signal

AI assistants could compare savings accounts, insurance and mortgage rates, then handle routine switches for customers, says financial technology commentator David Birch. That could shift banks from competing for people’s attention to competing to be chosen by their customers’ software.

Birch argues that if an assistant reliably finds a better deal, people may trust it with more decisions. In an interview published by Huawei, he also says banks will need trusted digital identity systems so software can prove who it is and what it is authorised to do. It’s a sharp forecast, not evidence that customers are already handing over their finances. But it makes the next banking battleground sound less like a better chatbot and more like earning the right to act on someone’s behalf.

Discuss: Would you let an AI agent move your money to a better deal, or should every financial decision still need your explicit approval?

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