South African consumers are becoming increasingly comfortable with artificial intelligence (AI) playing a more active role in their financial decisions, with almost half saying they would allow an AI agent to apply for credit on their behalf.
New research from Experian, conducted by Forrester Consulting, found that 45% of 483 credit active and digitally literate South African consumers surveyed were comfortable allowing AI agents to apply for credit on their behalf.
The findings point to a growing willingness among consumers to move beyond using AI for research and allow the technology to support more parts of the lending journey, including comparing lenders, checking eligibility and completing applications.
The research forms part of a wider study across 13 markets in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific.
The appetite for AI assisted financial services appears to be driven largely by convenience and the potential to make better financial decisions.
Some 89% of South African respondents said they trust AI to compare loans across providers, while 91% believe AI agents could help them find better prices or rates.
A further 91% believe AI could help them compare more options than they could manually, while the same proportion said AI could help them avoid missing important details such as hidden fees or contract terms.
For consumers, the attraction is therefore not simply the novelty of the technology, but its potential to save time, reduce costs and simplify increasingly complex financial decisions.
"South African consumers are showing a clear appetite for AI that helps them make financial decisions with more confidence, but trust remains the deciding factor," said Thabo Hermanus, CEO of Experian South Africa.
"The fact that 89% of them trust Large language models (LLMs) to compare loans across providers shows how quickly AI is becoming part of the decision-making journey. For financial institutions, this creates an opportunity to build AI assisted experiences that are useful, secure and transparent, while keeping consumers firmly in control of the choices that matter most," Hermanus said.
Consumers retain control over credit decisions
Despite growing acceptance of AI, the research suggests consumers are not necessarily ready to hand over complete control of their financial decisions.
Some 69% of respondents said they were comfortable giving an AI agent authority to accept a loan offer based on preset criteria, while 64% were comfortable sharing the personal information required for an application with their agent.
This indicates that consumers are willing to delegate certain tasks, but expect safeguards around how AI agents access and use their personal and financial information.
Trust is likely to become increasingly important as AI takes on more responsibility in financial services.
Some 84% of respondents said they would feel more comfortable using AI connected to a financial institution they already trust.
For banks and lenders, this could create an opportunity to introduce AI capabilities within existing customer relationships rather than presenting AI as a standalone service.
As AI agents become capable of completing more tasks on behalf of consumers, financial institutions will also need systems that can securely manage interactions between consumer side AI agents and lender platforms.
Identity verification, consent management, fraud prevention and explainability are expected to become increasingly important as AI assisted financial services develop.
"As AI agents begin to support more complex financial journeys, the critical question is how businesses verify who is acting, what consent has been given, and whether each interaction can be trusted," Hermanus said.
"This is where identity, fraud prevention, decisioning and explainability become essential. The organisations that build this foundation early will be better positioned to support AI assisted services safely, responsibly and at scale," he said.
AI adoption increasing in SA
A transformation is also taking place in South Africa with the way consumers are choosing to shop for their groceries with the introduction of AI systems in various shopping apps integrated into major retailers’ apps, changing the way people shop in the country.
The 2026 South African Customer Experience Report revealed that consumers buckling under the pressure of the cost-of-living crisis are becoming more innovative and using technology to help them stretch their rands further before making purchases.
The report showed that almost a quarter of consumers in the country (23%) have begun using AI search (ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and Perplexity) to compare products, prices, find discounts, deals and “ask anything” questions.
Rogerwilco CEO Charlie Stewart said the quality of a company's digital presence had become an increasingly important part of the customer experience.
“Consumers increasingly expect information to be available immediately, easy to understand and capable of answering anything that matters to them. The quality of any organisation’s digital footprint has therefore become part of the customer experience itself,” Stewart said.
ashley.lechman@nationalmg.co.za