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A new report from Nvidia Corp. sheds some light on how quickly and broadly the financial-services industry has picked up on using artificial intelligence tools for the customer experience and in the back office.
In its latest “State of AI in Financial Services” report, Nvidia found that 60% of more than 600 global financial-services professionals say their organizations employed generative AI or were considering it for use in the customer experience, such as for chatbots, virtual assistants, and to assist agents. That number was 25% in 2023.
Some 53% are using generative AI —which can create something new rather than solve for just a specific issue—to help with report generation and analysis and investment research, compared with 27% in 2023. And, what is especially pertinent to entities in merchant services, 32% last year either were using using, or were evaluating, the technology for pricing, risk management, and underwriting, up from 13% in 2023.
“There’s been a noticeable shift toward leveraging AI for creating competitive advantages, improving customer experiences, and enhancing employee productivity,” the report says. “These areas have seen increased focus as companies strive to harness AI, not just for cost savings, but as a catalyst for transformation and growth. One of the most significant trends is the increased focus on opening new business opportunities and driving revenue, which rose from 17 percent to 24 percent YoY. This suggests a strategic realignment toward revenue-generating activities and the exploration of new markets through AI.”
Three findings stood out for Kevin Levitt, Nvidia global director of finance. The first one is the myth that the return on investment on AI is unproven. He points to the finding that 98% of management respondents say they will increase their AI infrastructure spending in 2025, while 50% fewer companies in 2024 said they didn’t have an AI budget compared to 2023. “These firms would not be investing at the scale they are unless they were observing meaningful ROI,” Levitt tells Digital Transactions News. Nvidia offers a suite of AI products and services to many industries, including financial services.
Another observation is that the barrier to success with AI tools is falling faster than expected, Levitt says. “The percentage of respondents saying these are barriers fell by close to half compared to 2023,” he says. The third notable result is the continued use of generative AI and how quickly its adoption continues to grow on a year-over-year basis. “That’s reflective of the fact that companies don’t invest and don’t have that type of belief unless they see a return on their investment,” he says.
Within the acquiring segment of financial services, Levitt says the use cases for AI might involve how to optimally route transactions to increase approval rates. AI could help with discerning the type of transaction and who is transacting, among other factors, and route the transaction to gain the highest approval rates, he says.
AI also will “almost certainly have a continued focus on fraud detection,” Levitt says. Using AI in every layer of the payment stack to fight false positives is one use case, he says.
The payments industry, along with the rest of the financial-services sector, will continue to compete for talent. The Nvidia report found a 42% increase in year-over-year spending in recruiting and hiring efforts. Twenty-five percent say they’ll provide AI training to their current staff, too.
