Relational Financial Inclusion in AI-Mediated Banking: The Centrality of Institutional Trust and the Role of Human Mediation

Artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping the financial sector by redefining how customers access, interpret, and experience banking services. However, financial inclusion is still frequently analyzed in terms of access, use, or availability of digital channels, with less attention paid to the relational quality of interactions between customers and institutions. This study introduces Relational Inclusion in Banking (RIB) as a specific dimension of financial inclusion in AI-mediated contexts, referring to the degree to which customers continue to feel understood, treated fairly, heard, and connected to their institution. Drawing on Social Exchange Theory and Sociotechnical Systems Theory, a PLS-SEM model was tested using data from 770 banking customers in Extremadura, Spain. The results show that institutional trust was the strongest antecedent of RIB, followed by relational mediation capacity, perceived fairness of AI, and AI transparency. In addition, the rural-urban context influenced digital literacy level, although it did not directly explain institutional trust. At the theoretical level, this study contributes to existing knowledge by shifting the analysis of financial inclusion from digital access toward the relational position customers retain within automated banking services. It also identifies human mediation as a sociotechnical mechanism that connects AI-assisted outcomes with customers’ specific circumstances. At the practical level, the managerial implications direct financial institutions toward clear AI governance, better-designed AI-assisted interactions, and effective procedures for explanation and human review. The policy implications highlight the need to strengthen the traceability of automated decisions, ensure effective human review mechanisms, and monitor potential inequalities associated with territory or digital vulnerability. They also point to the value of maintaining hybrid support mechanisms that enable customers with greater digital difficulties to understand and challenge AI-assisted decisions.