By COMFORT OGBONNA
FRANKFURT — German digital broker Scalable Capital said Tuesday that its customers can now use major artificial intelligence platforms, including ChatGPT and Claude, to analyze their investment portfolios and conduct trades through their accounts.
The company said the new service provides customers with another way to access and manage their investments, alongside its existing mobile application and website. The move also introduces AI into a growing area of financial services as investment platforms seek new ways to make trading and portfolio management more accessible to retail investors.
Scalable said the service is the first of its kind offered by a European bank, although the company operates primarily as a digital investment platform rather than a traditional high-street lender.
The new system allows customers to interact with their investment accounts through supported AI platforms while incorporating security measures designed to protect account information and transactions.
Scalable founder and Co-Chief Executive Erik Podzuweit described the launch as an early step toward what he expects will become broader use of artificial intelligence in personal investing.
He said many customers may still be reluctant to give an AI system access to their investment portfolios or allow it to assist with managing their money. Offering the capability through external AI platforms, he said, could help customers become more comfortable with the technology before similar tools are introduced directly into Scalable’s own application.
The company expects the role of AI in investment management to expand as customers become more familiar with the technology. Podzuweit said he believes greater use of AI could, on average, lead to improved investment returns, although he acknowledged that it remains uncertain whether that expectation will prove correct.
The development comes as financial companies increasingly experiment with artificial intelligence for tasks ranging from market analysis and customer service to investment research and portfolio management.
AI tools can process large amounts of financial information quickly and can help investors identify patterns, compare assets and organize portfolio data. However, using such systems to make actual investment decisions also carries risks, particularly because financial markets can change rapidly and AI-generated analysis can contain errors or fail to account for important circumstances.
Scalable’s approach gives customers another channel through which they can interact with their investment accounts, potentially making financial information easier to access for investors who already use AI assistants as part of their daily activities.
Founded in 2014, Scalable Capital has more than 1 million customers and more than 60 billion euros in assets, according to the company. Its largest markets are Germany and Austria, while it also operates in Italy, Spain, France and the Netherlands.
The company has emerged as part of a growing group of digital investment firms competing with established financial institutions across Europe. These newer platforms have attracted retail investors by offering simpler digital services and, in many cases, lower-cost access to investment products.
The expansion of AI-based financial services could intensify that competition as brokers attempt to distinguish themselves through technology and personalized investment tools.
For Scalable, allowing customers to use AI platforms to interact with their portfolios represents an initial step toward a broader strategy in which artificial intelligence could become more deeply integrated into everyday investing.
The company is expected to continue evaluating how customers use the technology before potentially expanding AI capabilities directly within its own platform.
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