In 2025, consumers want and demand more from the financial institutions and fintechs they trust to help them manage their money. More personalized. More intuitive. More connected. More streamlined. More spreadsheets?
MX’s latest survey of more than 1,000 U.S. adults found that more people are turning to spreadsheets and manual processes than last year. Nearly 1 in 4 (24%) consumers say they use a spreadsheet or other manual process to track their finances. This is a 4-point increase among consumers turning to manual processes to track and manage their finances.
At the same time, our research shows a clear indicator that consumers are also consolidating the number of finance-related apps they use. In less than 6 months, the percentage of consumers who have 3 or more finance-related mobile apps on their phone has dropped 7 points to just 40%. Among those who have 3 to 5 apps, the decline is 5 points in the same timeframe.
Most consumers (44%) say they only have 1 to 2 finance-related mobile apps currently downloaded to their mobile phone, while 17% say they have none.
So what gives? At MX, we believe consumers want data-driven financial solutions that meet them where they are — not a plethora of apps that only paint a small portion of their financial picture. Let’s dive into the research.
How to Move Consumers Beyond Manual
Today’s consumers are no longer satisfied with a disjointed, impersonal money experience. But are manual processes and custom spreadsheets that they build and maintain themselves the answer?
For nearly one-quarter of consumers — and one-third of Baby Boomers, manual processes and spreadsheets reign. Why? The majority say it is easier for them to understand (65%) and gives them better control over their finances (57%).
Among those who don’t use a spreadsheet, most consumers are only seeing their finances frame by frame — 37% say they only check their finances through their financial accounts. This means they are likely missing the bigger picture in some cases. Most alarmingly, 14% of consumers still say they don’t track their finances at all.
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In 2025, consumers want and demand more from the financial institutions and fintechs they trust to help them manage their money. More personalized. More intuitive. More connected. More streamlined. More spreadsheets?
MX’s latest survey of more than 1,000 U.S. adults found that more people are turning to spreadsheets and manual processes than last year. Nearly 1 in 4 (24%) consumers say they use a spreadsheet or other manual process to track their finances. This is a 4-point increase among consumers turning to manual processes to track and manage their finances.
At the same time, our research shows a clear indicator that consumers are also consolidating the number of finance-related apps they use. In less than 6 months, the percentage of consumers who have 3 or more finance-related mobile apps on their phone has dropped 7 points to just 40%. Among those who have 3 to 5 apps, the decline is 5 points in the same timeframe.
Most consumers (44%) say they only have 1 to 2 finance-related mobile apps currently downloaded to their mobile phone, while 17% say they have none.
So what gives? At MX, we believe consumers want data-driven financial solutions that meet them where they are — not a plethora of apps that only paint a small portion of their financial picture. Let’s dive into the research.
How to Move Consumers Beyond Manual
Today’s consumers are no longer satisfied with a disjointed, impersonal money experience. But are manual processes and custom spreadsheets that they build and maintain themselves the answer?
For nearly one-quarter of consumers — and one-third of Baby Boomers, manual processes and spreadsheets reign. Why? The majority say it is easier for them to understand (65%) and gives them better control over their finances (57%).
Among those who don’t use a spreadsheet, most consumers are only seeing their finances frame by frame — 37% say they only check their finances through their financial accounts. This means they are likely missing the bigger picture in some cases. Most alarmingly, 14% of consumers still say they don’t track their finances at all.
In addition to manually tracking and managing their finances, 65% of consumers also prefer to manually pay their bills each month. They do this so they can either make sure they can keep track of their finances (48%) or make sure they have the funds available (17%). Only 35% of consumers set up automatic payments with each provider.
While manual processes seem to be the preference for a portion of consumers — and even more so when it comes to paying bills, our research reveals an even more disturbing trend. Twenty-two percent of consumers agree they avoid checking their finances if possible. This attitude of financial avoidance is even higher among Gen Z consumers (33%) and Millennials (28%).
Financial providers have a significant opportunity to lessen this manual burden for consumers and combat the rise of financial avoidance. What’s more, consumers want their financial providers to do more to help them. In fact, 31% of consumers agree they don’t feel financial providers do enough to support their financial needs. So how do we do better? The key lies in leveraging data more effectively.
“Data, or the lack thereof, can make or break financial wellness.” —Jane Barratt, MX Chief Advocacy Officer and Head of Public Policy
The Data Sharing Linchpin
In our previous research, we pointed to a growing desire among consumers to be able to pull together all of their finances into a single mobile app to make them easier to track and manage if they had the option. Here’s the kicker — they often do have the option.
Bringing together finances into a single view isn’t just good for consumers. Financial institutions and fintechs can also drive higher levels of engagement, deliver more personalized experiences, and gain greater intelligence about their customers.
Consumers are ready to share more data if it will deliver better experiences for them. Fifty-five percent of U.S. consumers agreed they would give their financial provider access to more of their data if they knew it would result in a better experience. This is a significant jump from May 2024, when less than half (46%) agreed with the same statement.
This statistic has never had greater significance in the wake of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s final rule under Section 1033 of the Dodd-Frank Act. As financial data providers and recipients get ready to meet these new compliance obligations ahead of 2026 deadlines, those financial providers who lead from the front on Open Finance will be in a better position to deliver on consumer expectations and will have the advantage over those who choose to wait.
To deliver on the promise of Open Finance and meet consumer demands, our research points to a need for secure, transparent, and personalized experiences that add value for consumers.
Prioritize Building Trust through Security and Transparency
While consumers want a better financial experience powered by their own data, financial providers need to prove that they can protect their data. Forty-nine percent of consumers agree they will freely share their financial data as long as they trust it is securely protected. In addition, the vast majority (80%) of respondents agree that it is important for them to know and manage who has access to their financial data.
However, 55% of consumers are worried about which financial providers have access to their financial data. This shows we have more work to do to build trust with consumers. In fact, financial services remains one of the least trusted industries according to the 2025 Edelman Trust Barometer.
Ensure Data Drives Value through Personalized Experiences
Consumers have always wanted their financial providers to know them, but this desire has evolved into a clear expectation. Sixty-seven percent of consumers agree they expect their financial provider to know them. This is a huge jump from our previous survey and has steadily increased over the past 3 years. Last year, only 54% agreed.
And, consumers want financial providers to use their data to deliver on this expectation:
Financial providers who get this dynamic right will earn the right to continue accessing consumer-permissioned financial data to improve consumer and business outcomes. Most consumers (53%) said they were likely or very likely to continue sharing their data whenever they are asked to reauthenticate or grant permission to continue sharing data. This number is even higher among digitally-native generations — Millennials (68%) and Gen Z (67%) consumers are even more willing to reauthenticate access to their data.
Delivering on Financial Wellness Priorities
So how can financial institutions and fintechs translate this wealth of consumer-permissioned data into the right tools, insights, and experiences? Our research uncovers what financial wellness means to consumers, top features they want most, and how artificial intelligence can play a role.
Defining — and Measuring — Financial Wellness
Financial wellness means different things to different people. For today’s consumers, it most often means not having to worry about expenses. When asked which statement most closely aligns with how they would define financial wellness, consumers said:
Looking at this through a different lens, consumers are almost evenly split between those who see financial wellness as a concern of the present (i.e., paying bills and covering everyday expenses) and those who view it as planning for the future (creating a safety net or saving for the future).
Whether financial wellness is a now or later outcome, consumers measure how well they are managing their finances in practical ways. When asked what metrics they use to measure their financial wellness, interesting patterns emerged among different generations and genders.
The top metrics consumers say they use to measure financial wellness are:
Gender Differences in Measuring Financial Success
Between genders, men had significantly higher response rates on future-looking metrics beyond account balances:
Generational Differences in Measuring Financial Success
Among the different generations, each had a different focus when it came to measuring financial wellness. These metrics also appear to support each generation’s top financial goals in 2025.
Regardless of definitions and metrics, consumers are looking to their financial providers to deliver the tools and insights they need to achieve their financial goals.
Consumer Expectations for a Myriad of Financial Wellness Features
We asked U.S. consumers what financial wellness features they most want from their financial provider. While the results were mostly consistent with our historical data, the data shows an interesting trend.
A cursory look might seem to indicate that, since many of the percentages have decreased, consumers now want fewer features from their financial providers. However, we believe it actually indicates the opposite. Consumers no longer have a clear top “must-have” feature. Instead, they want everything.
While the percentages vary year to year, the top feature that consumers want remains centered on connectivity. Consumers continue to rank the ability to see all of their accounts from various financial providers in one place as the most wanted financial wellness feature.
What’s more, consumers also continue to use this feature. When asked if they have used digital tools to bring their different financial accounts into one view, such as a mobile app or an online account, 41% of consumers say yes.
We also asked consumers about the primary reason they have connected a financial account or shared financial data within a mobile app. From this perspective, only 30% said they don’t think they’ve ever done this. This means potentially up to 70% of consumers are regularly connecting financial accounts or sharing financial data.
Does Connectivity Drive Primacy?
Now, the data begs another question — when the option to bring together accounts into one view exists in multiple places, how do consumers decide where to do this? Is primacy still a thing? Research says yes.
Eighty percent of respondents say they have a financial provider they consider as their primary financial provider. Interestingly, married respondents are more likely to have a primary financial provider (84%) compared to their single (76%) or divorced (77%) counterparts. And, as household income increases, so does primacy (with a small dip in the $75-100K range).
In addition, home ownership also plays a factor in whether a consumer has a primary financial provider. Those who own a home (83%) or condo/townhome (90%) are more likely to have a primary provider than those who rent a house (75%) or condo/apartment (76%).
Why do they consider a particular organization as their primary financial provider? Top reasons center around money movement and engagement:
- 67% Direct deposit for their paycheck goes to this account
- 50% Use this account to pay most of their bills or recurring payments
- 49% Log into this account most frequently
- 39% Have had this account longer than any other
- 34% Have the largest amount of money deposited into this account
- 31% Use this account for day-to-day transactions
- 21% Have connected other financial accounts to this one to see their finances in one place
You’ll notice among these top reasons, connectivity still rates lowest but we expect this to grow as consumers consolidate the number of various financial apps they use and financial providers make it easier and more seamless for consumers to connect external accounts.
Leveraging Artificial Intelligence to Manage Finances
We also asked consumers about using artificial intelligence (AI) to help with their finances. Today, the majority (74%) of consumers are not yet using AI to help with their finances. That said, 22% said yes and younger generations are even more likely to use AI to support their finances — 27% of Gen Z and 37% of Millennials say yes, compared to just 2% of Baby Boomers.
Of those who do use AI to support their finances, the top use cases include:
- 22% provide basic financial advice, such as how much to put in savings or pay towards debt
- 15% personalized recommendations on where they can make changes to improve finances
- 15% provide investment-related financial advice, such as stocks to purchase, retirement planning, etc.
- 12% categorize transactions to help them understand where money is going
- 10% deliver proactive reminders to pay bills, save money, etc.
Interestingly, these use cases differ greatly from where consumers said they’d trust AI to help them manage their finances in our previous research.
Some of the least trusted areas were related to financial advice. Yet, two of the top 3 use cases that consumers use AI to help with their finances fall into this camp. More broadly, trust in AI is much higher than actual use of AI to help manage finances.
Our research shows consumers want their financial provider to support them in every single aspect of financial wellness. And, AI could be a great way to deliver on this long list of features that consumers want if done right.
It’s time for financial institutions and fintechs to focus on how they can better leverage data and newer technologies like AI to guide consumers on their financial journey. So what’s next?
Optimism Brings New Opportunities
Money remains the top source of stress for consumers. In fact, 44% of consumers agree they struggle to make ends meet and half of consumers say money is their main source of stress. But, many are optimistic about their future.
Whether it’s improving their credit score or saving for a new car, 75% of consumers are optimistic about achieving their top financial goal for 2025. And, 34% say their financial situation is better than it was 6 months ago. There are several key factors that contribute most to these feelings of optimism. Among those who are optimistic or very optimistic, top reasons include:
As we look ahead in 2025 and beyond, financial institutions and fintechs have an opportunity to embrace this optimism and rise to meet the needs of consumers. Here are our 3 recommendations for what financial providers can do in 2025:
1. Expand financial wellness capabilities.
Financial wellness is not a box to be checked. Rather, it’s a complex and constant challenge for consumers. And, they want more help. The banks, credit unions, and fintechs who go beyond basic functionality and deliver rich, intuitive tools will win customer engagement and dollars in the long run.
2. Make money management easier.
Managing money is stressful for most — with some consumers turning to manual processes to feel more in control while others are avoiding their finances altogether. Financial providers can help by making it easier for consumers to connect their financial accounts, understand their finances, and take action without the need for complicated spreadsheets.
3. Earn consumer trust — and the right to leverage their data.
Consumer-permissioned financial data is invaluable to financial providers but, ultimately, it belongs to the consumer, not the bank. Financial institutions and fintechs need to focus on building trust with consumers by leading with privacy-first principles and putting the data they choose to share into action for them.
About the Survey
This survey of 1,025 American adults was conducted by MX in Q4 2024 using an online survey platform. Results included an even split in responses across each generation, as well as gender (male and female) and White and non-White (Asian, Black, Hispanic, or Other) respondents.