Anthropic has introduced a Personal Finance feature for its Claude chatbot, setting up a direct challenge to OpenAI's Finances tool inside ChatGPT, which launched in May. Both products are built to help users make better sense of their money, and both companies say the tools are not intended to replace expert financial advice. The two offerings overlap on most core functions, but they diverge on how they handle user privacy.
Users activate either feature by connecting a bank account. Anthropic and OpenAI both worked with Plaid, giving the tools connections to major institutions such as Bank of America, Capital One and Chase. In each case the access is read-only, so Claude and ChatGPT can view account information but cannot move money or make changes.
The data each tool can see is broadly similar. Anthropic said Claude's Personal Finance feature has access to the bank name, account name, account type, the last four digits of each account, balances, credit limits and up to two years of transactions. OpenAI said its Finances tool can view balances, transactions, investments and liabilities. Both chatbots can answer general questions about goals such as buying a house, planning an expensive family vacation or building a savings plan, and both generate dashboards that visualize monthly expenses, investments and spending habits.
The privacy settings are where the products differ most. Anthropic said conversations held in Claude's Personal Finance hub are not used to train its models by default, and that Claude stops seeing previously provided data once a user unlinks a bank account. OpenAI said conversations tied to connected financial accounts follow whatever model training preferences a user has set across ChatGPT. Users who want to opt out must go to Data controls in settings and turn off Improve the model for everyone, which is on by default. OpenAI said synced account data is deleted from its systems within 30 days of disconnection.
Anthropic also said its Personal Finance feature carries no ads or sponsored recommendations and does not offer credit cards, loans or savings accounts of its own. OpenAI does not explicitly mention ads alongside ChatGPT Finances, though the company has been testing ads for its cheaper tiers as of January.
OpenAI said it plans to expand ChatGPT's Finances through a partnership with Intuit, covering areas such as credit card applications and tax questions. Anthropic said it is seeking input from banks, wealth managers and financial services companies to improve its tool.
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