PETALING JAYA: Choosing a loan usually means comparing interest rates, repayment terms and eligibility rules, then trying to work out which offer actually suits you. Increasingly, Malaysians appear comfortable letting artificial intelligence help with that process.
According to research commissioned by Experian and conducted by Forrester Consulting, 76% of Malaysian respondents said they trusted the accuracy of information provided by large language models when comparing loans.
The study, released last month, surveyed 6,247 credit-active, digitally literate consumers across 13 markets in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific.
It found that 57% of Malaysian respondents would allow an AI agent at least some degree of autonomy when applying for a loan or credit card, whether acting after approval, following pre-agreed rules or operating more independently.
This suggests AI could move beyond simply answering questions to helping consumers compare lenders, check eligibility, complete applications and submit authorised documents.
For many respondents, the biggest attraction was saving money and time. Some 92% of Malaysians surveyed believed AI agents could help them find better prices or rates, while 63% said they would be comfortable sharing financial data with one for an automated loan application.
Across the wider 13-market study, 85% believed AI could compare more options than they could manually, while 83% thought it could help them avoid overlooking details such as hidden fees or contract terms.
Experian representative Dawn Lai said consumers here were already changing the way they interacted with financial services. "They are not just experimenting with AI anymore," she said, noting that people were beginning to trust it with more meaningful parts of their financial lives.
Nevertheless, that does not mean Malaysians are ready to hand over every financial decision. The study classified 58% of Malaysian respondents as "agent sceptics", while only 3% were considered "optimisers", indicating considerably greater caution towards granting AI extensive independence.
Trust comes with a very large asterisk
Fraud remains a major concern, with 83% of Malaysian respondents identifying the manipulation of AI agents through fake offers or impersonation by cybercriminals as a key risk. This was the highest level of concern recorded for the issue across the 13 markets surveyed.
That anxiety is understandable given Malaysia's substantial online scam losses. According to home ministry figures, Malaysians lost RM2.97 billion to online fraud in 2025, followed by another RM830 million during the first five months of this year.
As AI tools become increasingly capable of generating convincing text, voices and identities, fraudulent loan offers and impersonation attempts could become more difficult to recognise.
Lai said financial institutions would need to strengthen identity verification, consent mechanisms, fraud prevention and transparency to earn consumers' confidence in AI-assisted financial services.
AI can compare, but should it decide?
There is also an important distinction between using AI to gather information and allowing it to make financial decisions. A loan that appears attractive on paper may still be unsuitable when a borrower's income, existing commitments and repayment horizon are taken into account.
Although AI can compare rates and terms quickly, the reliability of its recommendations depends on the information available and how accurately it interprets the products being assessed.
That distinction helps explain why many respondents appear comfortable with AI as an assistant but remain hesitant about granting it greater control. Across the wider study, 75% said they would feel more comfortable using AI connected to a financial institution they already trusted.
For now, the emerging Malaysian attitude seems to be less "let AI run my finances" and more "help me compare my options, but keep me in the loop". When a decision involves years of repayments, retaining that oversight may be a sensible approach.