“It’s no longer about who shouts the loudest,” said Valentina Drofa, CEO and Founder of Drofa Comms, in her latest op-ed for TechRadar Pro.
The main point Valentina makes is that the “AI-powered” label has run its course. A year ago, to grab the attention of the press and investors, it was enough simply to claim that you used AI.
Today, almost every fintech has AI embedded in its workflow — in compliance monitoring, personalised banking and chatbots. Statistics prove it, saying that enterprise spending on generative AI jumped from $11.5 billion in 2024 to $37 billion in 2025, marking a 220% increase.
Yet, the more common and standardised AI becomes, the less the label means something to anyone.
Why Trust in AI Is Becoming a Fintech Problem
Poorly managed AI implementation has exposed people to hallucinations and inaccurate recommendations, making them more wary. Now, only 13% of consumers fully trust AI systems, as Valentina notes. For fintech in particular, where trust is the entire product, this number is dangerous.
She also mentions that fewer than 15% of organisations receive full security and IT sign-off before rolling out AI agents. This means that most AI systems are deployed without proper oversight.
Transparency, Explainability and Human Oversight
Valentina argues that companies should:
- Be upfront about where the AI model works and where it doesn’t, rather than only about upsides in yet another press release.
- Build explainability and auditability into the product itself, instead of burying them in technical documentation nobody reads.
- Keep a human in the loop and accountable, especially anywhere client money or data is involved.
So, the companies that win in this next phase will be the ones that can explain plainly how it works and where AI might fail. In this case, AI trust in fintech would be harder to erode.
