83% Indians trust robots more than humans to manage their finances

In India, 106 per cent of business leaders saw an increase in financial anxiety and stress, and their sadness grew by 47 per cent due to coronavirus pandemic

Year 2020 changed our relationship with money, and people, it seems, 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. It has changed who and what we trust to manage our finances. It is reshaping the role and focus areas of corporate finance teams and personal financial advisors.

Among business leaders worldwide, financial anxiety and stress increased by 186 per cent and sadness grew by 116 per cent. And globally, 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.

“Financial anxiety and sadness among consumers and business leaders has more than doubled in 2020. What is shocking from an India perspective is that this has nearly quadrupled,” said Guruprasad Gaonkar, global SaaS go-to-market leader, cloud business group, Oracle.

Worldwide, 90 per cent of business leaders are worried about the impact of the pandemic on their organisation. The most common concerns were a slow economic recovery or recession (51 per cent), budget cuts (38 per cent), and bankruptcy (27 per cent). Among Indian business leaders, 95 per cent are worried about the impact of the pandemic. The slow economic recovery or recession (59 per cent), budget cuts (49 per cent) and bankruptcy (29 per cent) were their main concerns.

Globally, 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.

“When we dig deeper into the research, it tells us that every 1 in 3 employees at work is stressed,” said Gaonkar. “This is resulting in reduced employee productivity and also leading to inaccurate reporting from a financial perspective due to which we have seen having huge implications in various corporate frauds in recent Indian history.”

To help navigate financial complexity, consumers and business leaders increasingly trust technology over people to help: 67 per cent of consumers and business leaders globally trust a robot more than a human to manage finances. In India, 83 per cent of consumers and business leaders share this belief.

“The brightest spot of the research is that the whole impact of Covid-19 has placed India among the top three geographies globally, alongside Japan and China, where consumers and business leaders have declared that they trust AI more than humans to manage finance,” said Gaonkar.

Globally, 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 or benefit analysis (23 per cent). Almost every Indian business leader (96 per cent) believes that robots can improve their work by detecting fraud (37 per cent), creating invoices (32 per cent), and conducting cost or benefit analysis (30 per cent).

Globally, 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.

Among consumers, globally, 66 per cent 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 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).

Worldwide, 56 per cent of business leaders believe robots will replace corporate finance professionals in the next five years. And India, 67 per cent believe the same.

The events of the year gone by have clearly increased the need for organisations to rethink how they use artificial intelligence (AI) and other new technologies to manage financial processes.