Consumer Finance AI Standard

AI (artificial intelligence) is making consequential decisions about consumers’ financial lives, including who gets access to credit, which claims get paid, what financial products consumers are shown, and how users are advised to manage their accounts, among many others. It’s doing this at scale, largely out of sight, and with almost no accountability when it gets it wrong.

Existing consumer protection laws apply to AI in full – but no framework yet defines what consumers should be able to expect from AI powered financial products specifically. This framework seeks to fill that gap.

CR AI Standard

Our Approach

Consumer Reports has developed the Consumer Finance AI Standard to define what consumers are owed from AI-powered financial products and what genuine consumer-first design looks like in practice.

The framework sets standards across 9 principles, organized around a 
single question: Is this product actually working for the consumer? Each principle breaks down into criteria, indicators, and evaluation procedures — giving both consumers a clear standard to expect and companies a concrete roadmap.

Principle 01
Security and Trust

Your money, identity, and other sensitive information are protected.

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Principle 02
Privacy and Data Minimization

Only the data needed is used.

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Principle 03
Transparency and Accountability

You can understand decisions made about you, and someone is responsible when they’re wrong.

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Principle 04
Honesty and Non-Manipulation

The AI tells you the truth, even when it's not what you want to hear and never uses psychology against you.

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Principle 05
Reliability and Operational Integrity

AI products and services work consistently and accurately.

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Principle 06
Consumer Agency and Control

You stay in control, including when AI is acting on your behalf.

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Principle 07
Duty of Loyalty

The AI works for you, not the company.

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Principle 08
Fairness and Nondiscrimination

You are treated based on your actual financial situation, not who you are.

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Principle 09
Duty of Vigor

The AI actively works to advance your interest to their fullest extent, surfacing rights and options as relevant.

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Supporting Resources

Mapping the Accountability Gap in AI-Powered Financial Services
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Acknowledgements

This work is made possible, in part, by a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

Consumer Reports thanks the researchers, consumer advocates, industry practitioners, and government experts who reviewed earlier drafts of this framework and whose feedback strengthened it. Responsibility for the final standards rests with CR.