Two of the largest AI companies have each opened a door that lets ordinary people invite a chatbot into their bank accounts, asking it to explain spending, sketch dashboards and help with long-held dreams like a house or a family trip. The tools are built on the same plumbing and promise the same modest role: helping people understand their own money rather than replacing the advisor. What separates them is less capability than posture, particularly how each company treats the private record of a household's finances once it has been shared. In that quiet difference, one can see the older huma
Claude and ChatGPT Both Want Your Bank Data. Their Privacy Defaults Differ.
The differences begin after the link is made.
Mark
Both tools want read-only access to my bank data through Plaid. So what actually separates them?
Mimi
Mostly the defaults. Anthropic says Personal Finance chats aren't used to train its models. OpenAI says finance conversations follow whatever training setting you already have in ChatGPT.
Mark
And that setting is on unless I turn it off?
Mimi
Yes. Improve the model for everyone is on by default, and you switch it off under Data controls.
Luke
Worth noting that these are each company's own descriptions of its policies. The article compares what they say, not an independent audit of what happens to the data.
Mark
What happens when you disconnect?
Mimi
OpenAI says synced account data is deleted within 30 days. Anthropic says Claude stops seeing the data you provided once you unlink.
Luke
Those aren't the same claim. Anthropic's statement is about what Claude can see, and the piece doesn't say whether or when the data is deleted. That's unanswered here.
Mark
What about ads?
Mimi
Anthropic says no ads or sponsored recommendations, and no credit cards, loans or savings accounts of its own. OpenAI doesn't mention ads for Finances specifically, though it has tested them on cheaper tiers since January.
Luke
So that's a pledge from one side and silence from the other. It's not evidence that Finances will carry ads.
Mark
Where is each headed?
Mimi
OpenAI is working with Intuit on things like credit card applications and tax questions. Anthropic is asking banks and wealth managers for input.
The Pulse
- Two AI giants are racing to become the place where people look at their money, with Anthropic's Personal Finance arriving just ahead of a major public offering.
- Users must hand over bank login access through Plaid, reaching institutions like Chase and Bank of America, which raises the stakes of every default setting.
- The sharpest tension lies in training data: Claude keeps financial chats out of model training by default, while ChatGPT's sharing setting is on unless users find and switch it off.
- Ads have become the unspoken fault line, with Anthropic promising none and OpenAI already testing ads on cheaper tiers.
- Both companies are charting next steps, with OpenAI planning an Intuit partnership for taxes and credit, and Anthropic courting banks and wealth managers.
Two of the largest AI companies have each opened a door that lets ordinary people invite a chatbot into their bank accounts, asking it to explain spending, sketch dashboards and help with long-held dreams like a house or a family trip. The tools are built on the same plumbing and promise the same modest role: helping people understand their own money rather than replacing the advisor. What separates them is less capability than posture, particularly how each company treats the private record of a household's finances once it has been shared. In that quiet difference, one can see the older human question of how much trust a person extends to a tool that knows where they spend their days and nights.
To use either new AI finance tool, you begin the same way: by linking your bank account. Anthropic's Personal Finance for Claude and OpenAI's Finances inside ChatGPT both rely on Plaid to make that connection, reaching institutions such as Bank of America, Capital One and Chase. The real differences surface only after the link is made.
Anthropic launched Personal Finance shortly before its planned public offering, a timing that makes it a direct rival to OpenAI's Finances, which debuted in May. Neither product is meant to give expert financial advice. Both aim to help people understand their own money better. Each can answer questions about goals like buying a home or saving for a vacation, and each can produce dashboards showing expenses, investments and spending habits.
Both tools have read-only access, so they can look but not touch. Claude can see account names, types, partial account numbers, balances, credit limits and up to two years of transactions. ChatGPT can see balances, transactions, investments and liabilities.
The key split is privacy. Anthropic keeps Personal Finance conversations out of model training by default, and unlinking an account removes the data from the feature's view. OpenAI ties financial chats to the general setting called Improve the model for everyone, which is on by default and must be turned off manually in Data controls. Disconnecting accounts there deletes synced data within 30 days. Anthropic also promises no ads or sponsored recommendations and no products of its own, while OpenAI has been testing ads on cheaper tiers since January.
What comes next is also different. OpenAI plans to widen Finances through Intuit, adding credit card applications and tax help. Anthropic is asking banks, wealth managers and financial firms for input to improve its tool.
To use either of the two new AI finance tools, you start the same way: you link your bank account. Anthropic's Personal Finance feature for Claude and OpenAI's Finances feature inside ChatGPT both rely on Plaid to make that connection, and both reach institutions such as Bank of America, Capital One and Chase. The differences begin after the link is made.
Anthropic announced Personal Finance recently, ahead of its plans to go public at a valuation that could set a record. It is an obvious rival to OpenAI's Finances, which debuted in May. Engadget's comparison notes that neither product is designed to give expert financial advice. Both are meant to help users understand their own money better.
The overlap in capability is considerable. Each chatbot can take general questions about financial goals, such as buying a house, paying for an expensive family vacation or building a savings plan. Each can also generate dashboards that show monthly expenses, investments and spending habits visually.
Both tools get read-only access to linked accounts. They can view the information provided but cannot change anything. Anthropic says Claude's Personal Finance can see your bank name, account name, account type, the last four digits of the account, balances, credit limits and up to two years of transactions. OpenAI says Finances can see balances, transactions, investments and liabilities.
The main split is in privacy defaults. Anthropic says that by default, conversations in the Personal Finance hub are not used to train its models. If you unlink your bank account, Claude no longer sees the data you previously provided to the feature.
OpenAI takes a different route. It says conversations involving connected financial accounts follow whatever model training settings you have chosen across ChatGPT. That setting, called Improve the model for everyone, is on by default. To turn it off, go to Data controls in ChatGPT's settings. When you disconnect your bank accounts, OpenAI says your synced account data will be deleted from its systems within 30 days.
Ads are the other point of contrast. Anthropic says Personal Finance has no ads or sponsored recommendations, and that it does not offer credit cards, loans or savings accounts of its own. OpenAI does not explicitly mention ads in connection with ChatGPT Finances, though the company has been testing ads on its cheaper tiers since January.
Both companies have said what comes next. OpenAI wants to expand Finances through a partnership with Intuit, covering areas like credit card applications and tax questions. Anthropic says it wants to hear from banks, wealth managers and financial services companies to improve Personal Finance.
Notable Quotes
Conversations in the Personal Finance hub aren't used to train our models by default.— Anthropic (paraphrased)
Conversations with connected financial accounts follow the same model training settings you choose across ChatGPT.— OpenAI (paraphrased)
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