Report: Customer Growth is the Big Opportunity for Financial Services AI

REPORT: CUSTOMER GROWTH IS THE BIG OPPORTUNITY FOR FINANCIAL SERVICES AI

Empathetic agents will set financial services providers apart with most customers. 

According to 1,800 banking and wealth management clients across North America, marketers have more opportunity with AI agents than previously thought. The report, from Prophet and Hive Science, finds that customers are increasingly open to agentic service that matches financial with emotional intelligence. Whereas most AI efforts have concentrated on operational efficiency, the larger opportunity lies in customer growth. 

A corresponding panel of banking and wealth management executives found more than 80% expect to actively promote their use of Agentic AI in customer value propositions within two years. To do it effectively, the customer study suggests, they will need to focus both development and communication more on AI that feels warm and outcome-focused than on functional improvements like real-time monitoring and alerts. 

“The principal AI conversation is shifting to what new products and services financial services providers can build with it,” said Gordon Smith, Senior Partner at Prophet. “Increasingly, customers are responding not just to what the AI does, but how it makes them feel.”

Warmth wins

Overall, 42% of customers are inclined to adopt Agentic AI services. Warmth moves them to action more than the promise of reliability does. 

While customers with a high propensity for front-stage Agentic AI say they prioritize basic functional services, their behavior reveals they are more heavily influenced by personalized guidance and meaningful interactions. They say higher outcomes and human oversight matter most, but they act on warm, friendly interactions with popular features. Similarly, back-stage customers say they prize account monitoring most, but personalized advice is what prompts them to act. 

Overall, customers place more value on back-stage agentic AI that helps advisors offer more personalized service than they do on front-stage, self-serve systems. For example, people are willing to pay $10.67 for advisors to monitor accounts with AI, but only $9.37 for do-it-yourself monitoring. Similarly, they’ll pay 17% more for personalized AI advice and dynamic portfolio rebalancing when an advisor does it than if they deal directly with the AI. 

One company capitalizing on this is Morgan Stanley. AI @ Morgan Stanley, a tool powered by OpenAI, allows advisors to instantly access and synthesize the firm’s vast proprietary research to provide better, faster recommendations to clients during a meeting. 

Common psychology

The common opportunity thread is psychology, not demography alone.

“Marketers need to design experiences that match how people think, feel, and decide, rather than who they are on paper,” said Gordon Smith, Senior Partner at Prophet.. 

Front-stage adopters, the customers who welcome self-serve AI, are extraverts who treat it as a relational partner rather than a utility. They value immediacy and can handle high cognitive load. They’re prone to life inflection, so AI allows them to reimagine their identities. 

By contrast, back-stage adopters are typically introverts who need a deep, emotional connection with advisors. They value stability over speed and consistency over change. They trust the institution and accept AI as a safety net protecting the accuracy of advisors. 

Competitive landscape

Conventional wisdom suggests digitally native fintechs will prevail in financial services agentic AI. The study concludes the market is far more nuanced. 

Established institutions such as Chase and Citi continue to lead the market. Their trusted brands and mature digital platforms drive strong brand lift through front‑stage AI, while back‑stage and B2B applications reinforce perceptions of security and operational sophistication.

Hybrid players like Fidelity and Charles Schwab are standouts. Innovating on established operating models, these hybrid players excel consistently across front‑stage, back‑stage, and B2B contexts—making them the category’s most balanced performers.

Leading fintechs and digitally forward banks demonstrate strength in front‑stage AI applications, where visible innovation drives rapid consumer receptivity. Within this group, Capital One and SoFi stand out, combining digital agility with the scale and trust required to generate meaningful brand lift.

Across the broader category, performance is more uneven. Many smaller fintechs and newer digital‑only banks lack the institutional credibility or operational depth needed to succeed in back‑stage and B2B contexts.

AI signals

Ultra-high net worth, high net worth, and mass affluent customers respond differently to AI. Understanding the signals is the first step toward effectively marketing agentic services. 

For ultra-high net worth (over $10 million) clients, the primary value of AI is enhancing the advisor relationship, so the technology needs to stay back-stage. Trust and discretion are at a premium, so marketers need to avoid any sense of displacing the human connection. 

Affluent, high-net-worth ($1 million to $10 million) clients are open to both front- and back-stage AI. They value personalization and control and are looking for autonomy. AI just can’t feel generic or impersonal.

Retail (under $1 million) clients respond to front-stage AI that feels warm and intuitive. While they seek reassurance, they prize simplicity and ease of use. Marketers need to avoid complexity, which can intimidate them.