Use AI to benefit your wallet

One of the biggest problems Mexicans have when it comes to managing and taking care of their finances is their lack of financial education and the ability to plan and record monthly transactions.

According to figures from the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI), less than 25% of adults in Mexico have basic knowledge of financial concepts, and only 24% are in the habit of creating a monthly budget or recording their expenses and income.

One of the ways people can begin to approach financial knowledge is through technological platforms, more specifically, Artificial Intelligence sites.

According to experts, many of these tools are capable of providing personalized advice, organizing budgets, and immediately answering questions about personal finances, in addition to being a way to promote the digitalization of financial life.

What to expect from AI?

Jorge Malanco is a director at the fintech company Sistema de Transferencias y Pagos (STP) and explained that the first step in using AI to improve financial habits and knowledge is having the will and open mind to use the technology.

“It's normal for there to be some reluctance to adopt these technologies. The first thing I recommend is doing in-depth research and comparing the tools offered by the various existing AIs,” Malanco explained, adding that looking for reviews about other users' experiences can help guide you.

Once you start using an AI and learn how it interacts over time, it's important to consider what features it offers the user and what results can be achieved with that tool.

According to the National Commission for the Protection and Defense of Financial Services Users (Condusef), the use of AI focused on personal finance can help users optimize their resources, save smarter, better manage their debts, and identify and prevent fraud or scams.

"You have to set short-, medium-, and long-term goals and be aware of whether the use of Artificial Intelligence is helping you achieve them and how quickly," said the STP executive.

Naturally, you should avoid recording sensitive data, such as addresses, bank account information, and passwords, or, if you feel more secure that way, creating accounts with anonymous email addresses.

Which AIs can help organize finances?

There are a number of AI services available online, both free and with paid versions. The most famous is ChatGPT, and while you can ask it to organize expenses and income, perform calculations, or explain financial concepts, it has a daily limit on queries in the free version.

Other AIs that can perform similar functions include Gemini (Google's AI), Perplexity, and Apple Intelligence, which is just starting to operate on recent Apple devices.

However, there are other Artificial Intelligence platforms focused exclusively on managing personal finances, recording expenses and income, and creating budgets.

Some of these include GoodBudget, which uses AI to allocate income to different spending categories and determine a limit. Another alternative is Pleo, which uses algorithms to make personalized recommendations based on spending analysis.

One of the limitations of some of these AI apps for personal finance is that they are made by foreign developers and, in most cases, only have an English version.

Another way to incorporate Artificial Intelligence into everyday financial life is to use chatbots that offer immediate advice and answer questions at specific times.