83% of Indians Trust Robots More Than Humans to Manage Finance: Survey

2020 has changed our relationship with money, and people now trust robots more than themselves to manage their finances, according to a new study by Oracle and personal finance expert Farnoosh Torabi. The study of more than 9,000 consumers and business leaders across 14 countries including India found that the COVID-19 pandemic has increased financial anxiety, sadness, and fear among people around the world; changed who and what we trust to manage our finances, and is reshaping the role and focus areas of corporate finance teams and personal financial advisors. 

COVID-19 has created financial anxiety, sadness, and fear 

The global pandemic has damaged people’s relationship with money at home and at work.

·  Among business leaders, financial anxiety and stress increased by 186 per cent and sadness grew by 116 per cent; consumer financial anxiety and stress doubled and sadness increased by 70 per cent.

·  In India,106 per cent of business leaders saw an increase in financial anxiety and stress, and their sadness grew by 47 per cent. 

·  90 per cent of business leaders are worried about the impact of COVID-19 on their organization, with the most common concerns being a slow economic recovery or recession (51 per cent), budget cuts (38 per cent), and bankruptcy (27 per cent).

·  For Indian business leaders, 95 per cent are worried about the impact of COVID-19, with slow economic recovery or recession (59 per cent), budget cuts (49 per cent), and bankruptcy (29 per cent) as their main concerns.

·  87 per cent of consumers are experiencing financial fears, including job loss (39 per cent), losing savings (38 per cent), and never getting out of debt (26 per cent).

·  Amongst Indian consumers, 90 per cent are experiencing financial fears, including job loss (34 per cent), losing savings (47 per cent), and never getting out of debt (21 per cent).

·  These concerns are keeping people up at night: 41 per cent of global consumers reported losing sleep due to their personal finances.

·  In India, that number rose to 59 per cent of consumers.

People want help and now trust robots more than themselves to manage finances

The financial uncertainty created by COVID-19 has changed who and what we trust to manage our finances. To help navigate financial complexity, consumers and business leaders increasingly trust technology over people to help. 

·  67 per cent of consumers and business leaders trust a robot more than a human to manage finances.

·  83 per cent of Indian consumers and business leaders share this belief.

·  73 per cent of business leaders trust a robot more than themselves to manage finances; 77 per cent trust robots over their own finance teams.

·  A higher share, 88 per cent, of Indian business leaders trust a robot more than themselves to manage finances; 85 per cent trust robots over their own finance teams.

·  89 per cent of business leaders believe that robots can improve their work by detecting fraud (34 per cent), creating invoices (25 per cent), and conducting cost/benefit analysis (23 per cent).

·  Almost every Indian business leader (96%) believes that robots can improve their work by detecting fraud (37 per cent), creating invoices (32 per cent), and conducting cost/benefit analysis (30 per cent).

·  53 per cent of consumers trust a robot more than themselves to manage finances; 63 per cent trust robots over personal financial advisors.

·  The percentage for Indian consumers is 72 per cent and 82 per cent respectively.

·  66 per cent of consumers believe robots can help with managing finances by assisting to detect fraud (33 per cent), helping to reduce spending (22 per cent), and making stock market investments (15 per cent).

·  That number amongst Indian consumers is a bit higher, with 85 per cent of Indian consumers believing robots can help with managing finances by assisting to detect fraud (45 per cent), helping to reduce spending (34 per cent), and making stock market investments (24 per cent).

The role of finance teams and financial advisors will never be the same

To adapt to the growing influence and role of technology, corporate finance professionals and personal financial advisors must embrace change and develop new skills.

·  56 per cent of business leaders believe robots will replace corporate finance professionals in the next five years.

·  67 per cent of Indian business leaders believe the same.

·  85 per cent of business leaders want help from robots for financial tasks, including finance approvals (43 per cent), budgeting and forecasting (39 per cent), reporting (38 per cent), and compliance and risk management (38 percent).

·  A whopping 93 percent of Indian business leaders want assistance from robots for finance tasks, including finance approvals (58 percent), budgeting and forecasting (49 percent), reporting (38 percent), and compliance and risk management (50 percent).

·  Business leaders want corporate finance professionals to focus on communicating with customers (40 percent), negotiating discounts (37 percent), and approving transactions (31 percent).

·  In India, business leaders want finance professionals to focus on communicating with customers (27 percent), negotiating discounts (25 percent), and approving transactions (23 percent).

·  42 percent of global consumers believe robots will replace personal financial advisors in the next five years.

·  57 percent of Indian consumers believe the same.

·  76 percent of consumers want robots to help them manage their finances by freeing up time (33 percent), reducing unnecessary spending (31 percent), and increasing on-time payments (31 percent).

·  45 percent of Indian consumers want robots to help manage their finances by freeing up their time, 37 percent want reducing unnecessary spending and 40 percent feel that robots can help them in regulating their payments. 

·  Consumers want personal financial advisors to provide guidance on major purchasing decisions such as buying a house (45 percent), buying a car (41 percent), and planning a vacation (38 percent).

·  Indian consumers lag a bit with 32 percent wanting guidance in buying a house, 29 percent in buying a car and 28 percent in planning a vacation. 

Our relationship with money has changed; it’s time to embrace AI to manage finance

The events of 2020 have changed the way consumers think about money and have increased the need for organizations to rethink how they use AI and other new technologies to manage financial processes. 

·  60 percent of global consumers say the pandemic has changed the way they buy goods and services.

·  88 percent of Indian consumers say the pandemic has changed the way they buy goods and services.

·  87 per cent of business leaders say organizations that don’t rethink financial processes will face risks, including falling behind competitors (44 per cent), more stressed workers (36 per cent), inaccurate reporting (36 per cent), and reduced employee productivity (35 per cent).

·  Majority of Indian business leaders (94 per cent) agree that organizations that don’t rethink financial processes will face risks, including falling behind competitors (46 per cent), more stressed workers (45 per cent), inaccurate reporting (42 per cent), and reduced employee productivity (44 per cent).

·  72 per cent of consumers say the events of 2020 have changed how they feel about handling cash, with people feeling anxious (26 per cent), fearful (23 per cent), and dirty (19 per cent). More than a quarter (29 per cent) of consumers now say that cash-only is a deal-breaker for doing business.

·  Almost every Indian consumer (93 per cent) shares the feeling that the events of 2020 have changed how they feel about handling cash, with people feeling anxious (33 per cent), fearful (39 per cent), and dirty (15 per cent). More than half (52 per cent) of Indian consumers now say that cash-only is a deal-breaker for doing business.

·  Businesses have been quick to respond. 69 per cent of global business leaders have invested in digital payment capabilities. 64 per cent of global business leaders have created new forms of customer engagement or changed their business models in response to COVID-19.

·  Comparatively, 93 per cent of Indian business leaders have invested in digital payment capabilities and 81 per cent of Indian business leaders have created new forms of customer engagement or changed their business models.