Over half of UK adults are no longer waiting for the financial industry to “look after them.” They’re taking matters into their own hands — and turning to AI tools like ChatGPT to help manage money, research investments, and even make sense of pensions and debt.
According to new research from Lloyds Banking Group, 56% of UK adults have used AI for financial help in the past year. What this really signals is not just a shift in technology — but a shift in power.
For decades, people were told, “Don’t worry — your bank or adviser will take care of it.” Yet now, millions are discovering that autonomy, not dependency, is the future of finance.
🔹 The Empowerment Divide
Lloyds’ report lands just as the FCA prepares to roll out its new targeted support regime — allowing firms to make product “suggestions” without crossing into advice.
But here’s the paradox:
- Consumers are already advising themselves through AI, not waiting for permission.
- The FCA’s model still frames “support” as something done to people, not by them.
AI, by contrast, flips that script. It gives ordinary people the power to ask questions, test ideas, and model decisions instantly — without sales pressure or opaque fees. It’s not replacing advice. It’s restoring agency.
🔹 The Trust Gap
Lloyds’ own CEO of Consumer Relationships, Jas Singh, rightly calls trust the next frontier. Yet trust cannot be regulated into existence — it must be earned through transparency.
That’s why the explosion in unregulated AI use isn’t just a risk — it’s a wake-up call. It shows how far consumers have drifted from institutions they no longer fully trust to act in their interests.
🔹 Human Wisdom + AI Insight = True Empowerment
Some in the profession, like Alasdair Walker, have warned that “AI is the wrong tool for the job.” He’s right — if the job is selling products.
But if the job is helping people think, plan, and act wisely, then AI becomes an extraordinary ally.
Used ethically, AI doesn’t replace empathy — it frees it. It allows financial planners to spend less time on administration and more time on understanding people.
At the Academy of Life Planning, we call this The Empowerment Model — using technology not to intermediate between people and their money, but to reconnect them with it.
🔹 The Bottom Line
This story isn’t about technology. It’s about transformation.
People are no longer waiting for permission to plan their lives. They’re using AI to reclaim clarity, confidence, and control.
The institutions that thrive in this new era will be those that help people plan with them, not for them.
The future of finance isn’t managed by fund managers or intermediaries — it’s co-created by empowered individuals with the right tools and truth on their side.
M-POWER means: You reclaiming control. You standing sovereign. You thriving, with support when you need it.
Become a Holistic Wealth Planner with the Academy.
When it comes to money, the best place to find helping hands you can trust is at the end of your own arms.
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