New research from Experian, conducted by Forrester Consulting, reveals growing confidence in AI’s ability to move beyond financial research and take on practical tasks in the lending process.
The study of 483 credit-active, digitally literate South African consumers found that 45% are comfortable with AI agents applying for credit on their behalf. The findings signal a significant shift in how consumers may engage with lenders, while raising important questions around trust, security, consent and control.
The findings from the report entitled AI in Risk: The Rise of Agentic Commerce, point to the next stage in the evolution of financial services, where consumers are allowing AI to move beyond providing information to supporting parts of the lending journey, including comparing lenders, checking eligibility, completing applications and securely submitting authorised documents.
"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, chief executive officer of Experian South Africa.
"The fact that 89% of them trust 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."
Consumers are embracing AI because it makes financial decisions easier: Consumers are embracing AI agents because they see practical value, not simply because the technology is new.
The research found that 91% of surveyed South African consumers believe AI agents could help them compare more options than they could manually, while 91% say AI could help them save money by finding better prices or rates. A further 91% believe AI agents could help them avoid missing important details such as hidden fees or contract terms, while 89% believe AI could save them time by handling research and purchasing tasks on their behalf.
The findings suggest consumers are looking for AI that simplifies complex financial decisions, saves time and helps them make more informed choices.
The research also shows that consumers have different comfort levels when it comes to how much autonomy they would give an AI agent. For credit applications, many still want to retain oversight, while others are open to greater delegation: 69% of surveyed South African consumers are comfortable giving an AI agent authority to accept a loan offer based on pre-set criteria, while 64% are comfortable sharing personal data required for the application with their agent.
Trust will shape the next phase of AI adoption While consumers clearly recognise the benefits AI agents can offer, trust remains fundamental to adoption.
Most surveyed South African consumers (84%) said they would feel more comfortable using AI connected to a financial institution they already trust, highlighting the opportunity for banks and lenders to build AI experiences within trusted customer relationships rather than treating AI as a standalone service.
As AI agents become capable of carrying out more tasks on consumers' behalf, financial institutions will need to start preparing systems that support secure interactions between consumer-side AI agents and lender-side platforms. Identity verification, consent management, fraud prevention and explainability will become critical as AI-assisted customer journeys continue to evolve.
Thabo Hermanus, chief executive officer of Experian South Africa said, "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. 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."
Experian is helping financial institutions prepare for this evolution through advanced identity, fraud prevention and decisioning capabilities, including Agent Trust, which enables secure interactions between consumers, AI agents and businesses while helping organisations build trusted AI-assisted financial services.
