Agentic AI Set to Reshape Global Banking as Customer Adoption Surges, Says McKinsey Report
A new McKinsey & Company Global Banking Annual Review (2025) reveals that agentic artificial intelligence (AI) is on the brink of transforming the global banking industry. The report highlights that the next major disruption in banking may not come from traditional financial institutions but from customers themselves—empowered by intelligent AI agents managing their money more efficiently than ever before.
According to McKinsey, as more consumers embrace AI-driven financial assistants, banking value pools could shift dramatically—driven as much by customer behavior as by banks’ innovation strategies. The report warns that “customers’ use of AI will affect banking value pools at least as much as what banks do, maybe even more.” This shift could erode banks’ reliance on customer loyalty, especially in high-margin segments like deposits and credit card lending, which accounted for around 10% of global banking profits in 2024.
Historically, banks have benefited from customer inertia—the tendency for clients to stick with familiar institutions despite better offers elsewhere. However, fintechs and neobanks have already begun to chip away at that loyalty, and agentic AI could accelerate the process. These autonomous systems don’t just analyze data; they can recommend, negotiate, and even execute financial transactions, enabling customers to find the best deals in real time with minimal effort.
McKinsey outlines four major ways agentic AI could redefine the bank-customer relationship: commoditization, where brand loyalty fades as AI prioritizes value; disaggregation, where customers use different providers for different services; disintermediation, where users interact with banks only through AI platforms; and democratization, which brings affordable financial advice to everyone. Together, these shifts could make banking more competitive, accessible, and transparent—but also far more volatile.
McKinsey envisions a future of AI-first banks where digital agents handle customer care, automate fraud detection, streamline corporate operations, and even co-create new financial products. With over 160 active use cases across 50 of the world’s largest banks—ranging from 60% productivity gains in U.S. credit operations to 100% AI-driven call monitoring in India—agentic AI is moving from hype to hard reality. Still, McKinsey cautions that cost efficiencies alone won’t guarantee profits: “Agentic AI changes the rules—pioneers capture outsize gains, while slow movers face decline.”
source: Nairametrics