OpenAI is pushing ChatGPT beyond simple conversations and turning it into a personal finance assistant. The company has introduced a new feature that allows users to connect their bank accounts, credit cards and investment portfolios directly with ChatGPT. With this update, the AI chatbot can now help users understand spending habits, track subscriptions, manage savings goals and analyse financial activity in a more personalised way.
While ChatGPT does not have access to complete bank account numbers, it can still review details such as balances, spending activity, and outstanding liabilities. Users also have the option to unlink their financial accounts whenever they choose and remove stored financial information.
“People are already turning to ChatGPT for help: more than 200 million people come to ChatGPT(opens in a new window) every month for budgeting, questions about their investments, comparing different paths, planning for future goals, and more. Recent advances in GPT‑5.5 make ChatGPT stronger at reasoning through the complex, context-dependent questions that personal finance often requires,” the company said in a statement.
At present, the feature is being rolled out in preview for ChatGPT Pro users in the United States. OpenAI says support for Plus users and a wider rollout will happen later. The new system is powered through a partnership with Plaid, a financial data platform that connects with more than 12,000 financial institutions, including Chase, Fidelity and Capital One.
ChatGPT can now answer questions based on a user’s actual financial data:
The idea behind the feature is simple. Instead of giving generic budgeting advice, ChatGPT can now answer questions based on a user’s actual financial data. For example, users can ask where most of their money is being spent, how much they are paying for subscriptions every month, or whether they are saving enough for a future goal. OpenAI says the chatbot can also help users plan for major decisions such as buying a house or paying off debt.
Once accounts are connected, ChatGPT creates a dashboard that shows spending patterns, liabilities, investments and upcoming payments. Users can also ask natural language questions instead of manually checking banking apps or spreadsheets. According to OpenAI, more than 200 million people already ask ChatGPT finance-related questions every month, and this update is meant to make those answers more useful and personalised.
The feature also raises privacy concerns:
However, the feature also raises privacy concerns because it involves sensitive banking information. OpenAI says users will remain in control of their data and can disconnect accounts at any time. The company also clarified that ChatGPT cannot move money, make transactions or view full account numbers. Users can additionally choose whether their financial conversations are used to improve AI models.
Many see this as an important move toward bringing digital assistants deeper into everyday routines. However, people are still being encouraged to think carefully before sharing sensitive financial details online until stronger data protection measures are in place.