German bank customers warm to AI advice, study shows

German bank customers are increasingly willing to interact with their lenders digitally and to receive advice from artificial intelligence-based tools, a study by consultancy Oliver Wyman shows.

Trust in AI-driven recommendations is rising, the report found, with about one in three customers in Germany already using such tools or planning to try them soon.

However, overall acceptance of independently acting AI tools in Germany was below the European average, the study showed.

AI applications are increasingly becoming a first point of contact for product searches, comparisons and initial recommendations, said René Fischer, a co-author of the study.

The survey questioned 4,816 consumers across nine European countries, including 609 respondents in Germany.

Despite the growing openness to AI, most German customers remain cautious about allowing automated tools to carry out transactions on their behalf. Only 4% said they could imagine a bank tool automatically transferring money from a savings account to a current account if the balance there became too low.

Around a quarter said they could see themselves accepting such services in the future, while 31% said they would not consider it and a further 19% said they would strongly reject autonomous AI agents.