Payments industry eyes growth in AI shopping

By Milan Rojan

Trust has emerged as the biggest barrier to the adoption of AI-powered shopping agents in the UK, according to new research from ACI Worldwide, which has found that six in ten consumers would stop using an AI shopping agent after a single mistake.

The YouGov survey, commissioned by ACI Worldwide and conducted among 2,080 UK adults, has found that while consumers are willing to use AI as a shopping assistant, they remain reluctant to allow it to make purchasing decisions or manage their money independently.

Adriana Iordan, Head of Merchant and Payments Intelligence at ACI Worldwide, said: “The findings clearly show that consumers are open to AI helping them shop smarter, but only if they remain firmly in control of both the decision-making and their money. They’re telling us very clearly that they won’t hand control of their finances to an autonomous agent without safeguards.”

The research has revealed that only 19% of respondents trust AI assistants to follow rules when making everyday purchasing decisions, compared with 55% who trust a human adviser. Meanwhile, 69% said they do not trust AI even when it follows rules they have set, while 60% said they would stop using an AI shopping agent after one mistake.

Consumers appeared more comfortable with AI supporting shopping rather than making financial decisions. The survey has found that 50% trust AI to find the best available price and 43% trust it to follow spending limits. However, only 18% trust AI to act in their best financial interests, 17% trust it to protect personal and payment data, and 15% trust it to resolve problems when transactions go wrong.

The study has also suggested that financial incentives alone are unlikely to drive adoption. Around 44% of respondents said they would not trust an AI shopping agent regardless of the savings offered, while one in four said it would need to save them more than 15% before they would consider using it.

The survey has further shown that consumers expect clear accountability. More than half (54%) said AI providers should be responsible for refunds when transactions fail, compared with 9% who blamed retailers and 3% who blamed banks or card issuers. Overall, 59% said they would not trust any organisation to manage AI-powered shopping and payments.