(New York, NY) Artificial intelligence (AI) continues to reshape the payments landscape, with providers investing heavily in AI-assisted solutions for their customers. However, Auriemma Group’s latest issue of Mobile Pay Tracker finds that while awareness of AI assistants grows, interest in using them has declined.

Across two recent surveys conducted in January and April 2026, awareness of AI assistants increased from 68% to 81%, while interest remained stagnant or dropped for those offered by card issuers, networks, airlines, hotels, and others. The findings suggest that as AI becomes more mainstream, cardholders are increasingly discerning about where and how they are willing to incorporate the technology into their financial lives.

“Awareness of AI-supported tools is growing rapidly,” says Jonathan O’Connor, Senior Manager of Research at Auriemma Group. “Cardholders are becoming more pragmatic in how they view AI. Interest remains strongest when AI acts as an advisor or assistant, rather than an autonomous decision-maker.”

Fewer cardholders say they are likely to allow AI to complete a purchase on their behalf than at the start of the year, dropping from 46% to 35% over the two survey periods. However, some find value in using AI tools to help them find the best prices or deals and comparing products, indicating that the technology may find early success helping cardholders with research-centric shopping tasks rather than payment-centric ones.

In fact, 24% of cardholders turn to AI assistants like ChatGPT when researching retail products or services, and 15% do the same when gathering information about financial products or services. While traditional search engines like Google may still be the primary research tool, AI’s presence in this space this early in its tenure is notable.

“While AI may not dominate cardholders’ research of financial products, its impact is noticeable,” says O’Connor. “Our research found that 54% of those who used AI for financial research have applied for a financial product based on AI interactions, highlighting the importance for card issuers and brands to optimize their product pages for AI searching.”

Although cardholders are becoming more measured in their enthusiasm for AI, the technology’s potential influence remains substantial. Many current users already report acting on AI recommendations, suggesting that even incremental increases in adoption could reshape how cardholders research, evaluate, and select both financial and retail products.

Survey Methodology

Mobile Pay Tracker

This Auriemma Group study was conducted online within the US by an independent field service provider on behalf of Auriemma Group (Auriemma) in June 2026 among 2,450 Mobile Pay (i.e., Apple Pay, Google Wallet, Samsung Wallet) eligible adult credit cardholders. The number of interviews completed for both is sufficient to allow for statistical significance testing among sub-groups at the 95% confidence level ±5%, unless otherwise noted. The purpose of the research was not disclosed, nor did respondents know the criteria for qualifying.