Trust and GenAI in the Finance Sector

This study investigates the impacts of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) on consumer trust within the financial services sector. It employs a mixed-methods qualitative approach that encompasses consumer and executive interviews from the United States and Asia-Pacific, alongside comprehensive regulatory and industry analysis. The findings show that consumer trust in GenAI depends largely on institutional reputation, transparency, and strong human oversight in high-stakes financial decisions. Rather than regional differences, participants exhibited a shared but conditional trust, with key determinants rooted in the practices and credibility of the banks themselves. 

Executive perspectives reveal divergent strategic paradigms—Asia-Pacific institutions adopt agile, efficiency-oriented GenAI integration, while U.S. entities adhere to cautious, compliance-driven frameworks that constrain the deployment of more advanced tools. Despite a fragmented global regulatory landscape, there is discernible convergence toward principles of transparency and accountability, though persistent deficiencies in model explainability and third-party vendor oversight pose challenges. 

This report advocates evidence-based strategies to embed trust, including AI use-case typologies, model registries, privacy-preserving technologies, regulatory sandboxes, and consumer-oriented Trust Dashboards. The Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center (FS-ISAC) is uniquely positioned to catalyze regulatory harmonization through standardized trust metrics and collaborative initiatives. Future research should longitudinally examine regulatory convergence, evolving consumer trust dynamics, and workforce reskilling imperatives. By integrating trust into AI system design and fostering transparent, consumer-centric communication, institutions can secure a competitive advantage. FS-ISAC’s efforts to standardize responsible GenAI adoption can unlock productivity gains from technological innovation while bolstering consumer confidence and fortifying systemic resilience across the global financial ecosystem.