Do you trust AI with your money? Millions of Australians already do

• 39% of Australians now use AI for personal finances, from budgeting apps to tax preparation
• Cost-of-living crunch is driving uptake, with professional advice costing around $5,000 a year
• Trust gap remains – AI tools rank below human advisers, but above social media and influencers

Special Report: Australians are increasingly outsourcing financial decisions to machines.

A new survey by Compare Club of more than 1,000 people found that 39% now use AI tools for money management, from day-to-day budgeting to lodging tax returns. Among them, two-thirds say they are relying on AI more often than a year ago.

The trend is being driven by affordability. Professional financial advice can cost upwards of $5,000 annually, a steep outlay in a year dominated by cost-of-living pressures. By comparison, AI tools – many of them free or low-cost – offer quick guidance at the swipe of a screen.

“AI is now part of everyday money management for millions of Australians,” Compare Club head of Research Kate Browne said. “With costs rising, people are clearly open to more affordable tools to budget, save and plan.”

Where AI is making the biggest impact

The research found Australians are leaning on AI across a wide range of tasks:

• Budgeting help (53%);
• Saving and investment strategies (45%);
• Comparing financial products (39%);
• Decoding complex terms (37%);
• Tax advice and returns (31%); and
• Fraud and scam detection (19%).

ChatGPT is by far the most popular platform, used by 78% of respondents, followed by Microsoft Copilot (29%) and Google Gemini (27%).

“Using AI to track expenses or compare products can save hours and simplify complex jargon,” Browne said.

Trust is growing, but caution remains

While Australians are warming to AI, trust levels still lag behind traditional sources. Financial advisers (59%) and government agencies (44%) remain the most trusted for financial guidance, compared with 25% for AI tools.

Still, AI rates higher than social media (19%) and even family and friends (23%), which were more often cited as sources of financial mistakes. Only 8% of Australians reported making an error due to AI advice.

“AI is great at simplifying jargon and saving time, but it shouldn’t be the only source of truth,” Browne said. “Fact checking against other resources, or better yet, a human expert, is still essential.”

A global shift in money management

The Australian trend reflects broader global momentum. In the US, robo-advisers like Betterment and Wealthfront already manage hundreds of billions of dollars while in Europe, AI-driven platforms are increasingly embedded in mainstream banking.

Locally, the rise of AI-enabled budgeting and investing tools sits alongside surging demand for micro-investing apps, low-cost comparison sites and digital-first financial services. Deloitte forecasts AI in financial services will grow into a multi-billion-dollar industry in Australia by 2030.

For investors, several ASX small caps are already leaning into this trend. MONEYME (ASX:MME) is using AI-driven credit assessments to approve loans in minutes, while Reckon (ASX:RKN) is embedding automation into its accounting and tax software to simplify compliance for households and SMEs.

On the infrastructure side, Appen (ASX:APX) supplies the training data that underpins many global AI models, and Unith (ASX:UNT) is developing conversational AI and digital human platforms that could support more intuitive, user-friendly financial guidance.

Together, they illustrate how Australia’s growing trust in AI for money management could ripple across the local market.

For now, the winning formula appears to be a balance between machine efficiency and human judgment.

As household budgets remain under pressure, Australians are embracing AI as a financial co-pilot – one algorithm at a time.

This article was developed in collaboration with Compare Club, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.