Americans Are Using ChatGPT to Shop for New Credit Cards. How Good Are Its Recommendations?

It seems like people are using ChatGPT for just about everything nowadays, and that even includes financial advice. More than half (54%) of American adults said they used it to recommend financial products, according to a ChatGPT study by The Motley Fool Ascent.

The most common type of financial advice people asked for was help finding a new credit card. Of those surveyed, 26% said that they had used ChatGPT to recommend a credit card.

Any time financial products are involved, quality information is a must. You don't want to end up applying for the wrong credit card because of lousy advice. To see if ChatGPT is a good option for credit card recommendations, I put it through its paces with several test questions.

How I tested ChatGPT

I started by asking ChatGPT for a credit card recommendation. To better assist me, it asked for a few pieces of information. Here's what it needed and the information I provided:

• Country of residence: United States
• Credit score or an estimate of credit worthiness: 800
• Primary intended use for the credit card: Travel rewards
• Specific features or benefits desired: Big sign-up bonus

Based on those details, ChatGPT recommended the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and gave me a basic rundown of some of its benefits. We were off to a good start, as that's one of the most highly rated travel credit cards.

Apply now for the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card.

Next, I asked if ChatGPT had any other options. It suggested The Platinum Card® from American Express, another solid choice. It also provided basic information about the card and even mentioned that this card has a higher annual fee than most others (see rates and fees).

Apply now for The Platinum Card® from American Express.

From there, I asked what it recommended for several other types of credit cards, including:

• Cash back credit cards
• Balance transfer credit cards
• Credit cards for building credit

I got a quick answer each time with reasonable card recommendations and some of their features. It wasn't anything groundbreaking, as I could've found the same information elsewhere easily enough. But ChatGPT made the process very convenient.

ChatGPT provides good credit card recommendations, with some limitations

ChatGPT's credit card recommendations are definitely good enough for a passing grade. When you ask it for recommendations in a specific card category, such as travel or cash back cards, it tells you some of the best credit cards in that category.

There weren't any glaring issues with ChatGPT's recommendations. All the cards it recommended fit my requests, and it didn't make any bad suggestions. However, ChatGPT does have a couple of limitations as far as its credit card advice is concerned.

It only provides a general idea of card benefits and isn't 100% accurate

Although ChatGPT summarizes some benefits of the cards it recommends, it doesn't give you all the details. For example, it will tell you a card has a "substantial sign-up bonus," but it won't tell you how many points that bonus offers. Or, it will mention a 0% intro APR without telling you how long that offer lasts.

I also noticed the occasional mistake about card features. ChatGPT didn't know about some of the bonus categories for the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and the Chase Freedom Unlimited®. It's possible that's because those cards updated their bonus categories after its knowledge cutoff of September 2021.

You can get a general idea of what cards offer from ChatGPT. For the full picture, you'll need to go to the actual card pages or up-to-date credit card reviews.

Its information isn't entirely up to date

Since ChatGPT's knowledge cutoff is September 2021, it doesn't have info on any credit cards released after that time. That means its recommendations won't include the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card, even though it's one of the top travel cards, because it was released at the end of 2021. And it doesn't have any information on the Wells Fargo Reflect® Card, which is a great 0% APR credit card. (See rates and fees.)

ChatGPT also seems to be lacking information about which cards are no longer available to new applicants. For example, it recommended the Citi Prestige® Card to me, even though you haven't been able to apply for that card in years.

Should you let ChatGPT help you pick your next credit card?

ChatGPT is a cool new technology (I'll regret saying that if it takes everybody's jobs or wipes out humanity). As far as choosing credit cards goes, it does well, but it's far from perfect.

You could use ChatGPT if you want to quickly get some credit card recommendations. However, it's best to do your own research as well. ChatGPT still has knowledge gaps, particularly when it comes to credit cards released after September 2021. And it gives you more of a general overview than the kind of detailed info needed to compare credit cards. Use it for ideas if you want, but don't let it make your decision for you.