Copy article

Lloyds' "Agentic AI Financial Assistant" Raises Stakes for IFAs

ended 08. November 2025

Lloyds Banking Group is launching what it calls the UK's first large-scale "agentic AI financial assistant" to 21 million mobile banking customers in early 2025, promising "personalised, round-the-clock financial guidance and coaching" on spending, budgeting, savings and investments so individuals can make informed decisions.

This matters because banks aren't positioning this as basic account management, they're explicitly using language that's lived in IFA territory: "financial coaching," "personalised guidance," "helping customers reach their financial goals."

The bank's own research shows 56% of UK adults (around 28.8 million people) have used AI platforms like ChatGPT to manage their money in the past year, with 80% concerned about inaccurate information and 69% worried about poor personalisation.

Lloyds is addressing those concerns by using "autonomous, goal-driven AI agents" that can "act on behalf of customers" within regulated guardrails.

Lloyds said: "It will also be able to support our customers with savings and investments, guiding them through financial concepts and supporting them to make informed financial decisions, all in the secure environment of our mobile app. Importantly, unlike other AI platforms, responses are based on bank data, with the data stored and protected in a trusted and secure app. And with the ability to seamlessly refer to expert colleagues when needed."

We want your views:

  • How do you justify professional fees against "free AI coaching"?
  • Will clients even know they still need proper advice afterwards?
  • Will clients understand this is not "whole of market advice"?
  • Will this train individuals to trust AI financial advice more than they should when using other AI tools?

     

3 responses from the Newspage community

Copy all

Star Quote
Copy

Colette Mason
AI Ethics Consultant at Clever Clogs AI
The better Lloyds trains this system and the tighter their guardrails, the better job it'll do over time. Users of AI financial tools already estimate they've saved an average of £399 per year, and with 56% of UK adults using platforms like ChatGPT for money guidance, this isn't theoretical. Millions are already trusting AI guidance for basic budgeting and spending decisions, and feeling confident about it.

Like every white collar profession facing AI disruption, the value of personal connection combined with regulated expertise becomes more important, not less, when free tools handle simple tasks well.

The question for IFAs is "how do we help clients understand that AI-powered bank guidance and whole-of-market financial advice serve completely different purposes." It is vital investors understand the difference when one mistake on pension transfers or inheritance planning could wipe out decades of diligent financial responsibility.
Copy

Editor
Dariusz Karpowicz
Director at Albion Financial Advice
The robots are coming for our jobs, and this time they've got banking licences and don't need coffee breaks.
Lloyds' AI marks the beginning of the end for financial advisers. The technology improves exponentially; what takes you hours, AI completes in seconds. It analyses 300 lenders simultaneously, spots tax implications instantly, processes inheritance planning across infinite scenarios. Their research shows 56% of UK adults already trust ChatGPT with finances, saving £399 yearly on average. Once properly trained, AI won't forget regulations, won't miscalculate compound interest, won't take holidays during tax year end. The writing's on the wall: financial advice will become fully automated sooner rather than later. Lloyds is simply first to market.
Copy

Editor
Mitali Deypurkaystha
AI Governance Strategist & CMO at AISensa
Lloyds’ new agentic AI assistant may sound like altruism. In reality, it’s a strategic move to own the customer journey. Yes, it’s safer than using ChatGPT for financial guidance, but let’s be clear: it will steer users towards Lloyds’ own products, not the wider market, which may have more suitable, profitable financial products.

This is a flashing red light for IFAs. If you class yourself as independent, but work from narrow portfolios, AI will replace you. But if you’re truly independent — whole-of-market, human-centred and trusted — this is your moment to prove your worth.

The FCA has already found firms labelling themselves independent while operating on restricted panels. In this new AI era, those pretenders will vanish fast. Who needs them when a free-to-use agentic chatbot can give them the same advice? However, those who are truly independent can rise by educating the public that the best financial advice means freedom from algorithms owned by banks.