Revolut launches AI assistant as banks shift to chat

Revolut has launched an in-app artificial intelligence assistant called AI by Revolut, joining a broader push by banks and fintech groups towards conversational banking.

The assistant, known as AIR, lets customers ask questions about their money by text or voice within the Revolut app. It is designed to handle routine account tasks such as breaking down spending, freezing a lost card, and helping users plan a travel budget without requiring them to navigate multiple menu screens.

The launch puts Revolut alongside other financial groups that are shifting user interaction away from fixed app navigation and towards natural language prompts. Starling has also introduced an AI assistant in its banking app, while payments groups are developing tools that allow software agents to complete transactions on customers’ behalf.

Shift in interface

The change reflects a broader redesign of digital finance products. Rather than asking users to choose functions from menus and tabs, banks are increasingly building chat-based interfaces that aim to complete tasks once a customer describes what they want.

That approach is now spreading beyond customer service. In banking apps, conversational tools are being positioned as a way to manage budgeting, subscriptions, card controls and account information. In payments, the same model is emerging in systems that allow AI agents to discover products, make selections and complete checkout steps.

Visa has outlined a platform intended to connect merchants with AI shopping agents through a single integration. The concept points to a market in which customers could instruct software to reorder household goods or complete routine purchases, while established payment networks continue to process the underlying transaction.

Other parts of the sector are making similar changes. Business payments platform Melio has introduced an AI assistant for accountants and small companies that answers questions about bills, vendors and cash flow. At the same time, the Bank of America has developed an internal AI tool for staff in its global payments operation.

Competitive pressure

For consumer finance groups, the race to introduce conversational services is also becoming a competitive issue. Apps that reduce the number of steps required to complete common tasks may improve customer retention, particularly as digital banks compete on ease of use as much as on price and product range.

Revolut’s move comes as fintech groups try to make their apps the main place where customers manage day-to-day finances. By embedding an assistant that can answer questions and perform simple actions, Revolut is trying to keep users within its system for a larger share of their money-management tasks.

The stakes go beyond convenience. If conversational tools become the standard way to interact with banking and payments services, the companies that control those interfaces could gain greater influence over customer behaviour, product discovery and transaction flow.

Regulatory focus

Supervisors are also paying closer attention to the use of AI in finance. In the UK, the Financial Conduct Authority has begun examining how agentic AI could reshape retail financial services and affect consumers and markets. In the US, authorities have issued guidance intended to help financial institutions manage AI-related risk.

That scrutiny reflects a core concern across the sector. As banks and fintech groups move more customer activity into AI-led systems, they must show that the tools can operate safely, protect data and give users confidence that tasks are being completed correctly.

Privacy is likely to remain central to that debate, particularly as conversational systems sit between customers and sensitive financial information. The more these assistants are used for payments, transfers and account management, the more questions will arise about data handling, audit trails and accountability when something goes wrong.

For now, the most immediate effect is a visible change in how financial products are designed. The app screen is becoming less a map of buttons and more a prompt box, as banks and payments companies bet that customers will increasingly prefer to type or say what they need rather than search for the right feature.

Taken together, these shifts suggest that, for many routine tasks, natural language may become the main interface for digital money services.