Small and medium-sized businesses want their financial institutions to deploy artificial intelligence for financial guidance rather than autonomous transactions, according to a report from PYMNTS Intelligence produced in collaboration with Velera.
The report found that 75% of SMBs said they would use at least one AI feature offered by their financial institution within the next two years, compared with 59% of consumers. Interest rose to 83% among businesses generating more than $1 million in annual revenue and fell to 63% among those below $250,000. Among businesses that were profitable in 2025, 77% expressed interest, versus 45% of those that lost money last year.
The stated demand centered on advisory functions. The report said 31% of SMBs were interested in AI-powered expense tracking, while 22% wanted assistance with budgeting, cash-flow management, supplier discovery and financial-product comparisons. Citing Goldman Sachs research, the report said 76% of small businesses already use AI in some capacity, though only 14% report having fully integrated it into their operations.
On the institution side, chatbot deployment at credit unions rose from 3% in 2019 to 46% in 2026, according to Cornerstone Advisors data cited in the report. PYMNTS Intelligence estimated that by 2029, nearly half of top-tier credit unions will offer AI chat and financial-advice capabilities, with middle-tier institutions closing the gap and emerging institutions projected to reach adoption rates of up to 41% across core financial service capabilities.
The report said 49% of credit unions view AI and conversational assistants as a member-acquisition strategy, and 60% identify personalized digital experiences as a growth driver. AI agents ranked ninth among 13 credit union innovation priorities. PYMNTS Intelligence also indicated that some credit unions were already losing business members because of digital-friction issues.
The report identified conversational and advisory AI as the entry point for institutions, describing a trust ladder in which member interest is strongest for budgeting, expense tracking and financial guidance and declines as AI takes autonomous action on a user’s behalf. Velera Senior Vice President Cody Banks described the recommended approach as using a chisel rather than a sledgehammer, favoring selective upgrades over wholesale system replacement. The report cited Velera’s Atmos platform as an example of an intelligence orchestration layer that translates member-touchpoint data into real-time decision support.
