Digital advice firm Otivo has unveiled its AI-powered mobile app, building on its existing capabilities to deliver regulated, personalised advice under its AFSL.
According to Otivo, the app will give users personalised advice on superannuation, retirement, mortgages, debt, EFT investing and personal insurance through a plain-language chat interface.
“It accepts questions in plain English and most major languages, and produces answers documented in a statement-of-advice format. The app does not currently cover self-managed super funds, estate planning or aged care,” Otivo explained.
The app will be free to every Australian until 30 June 2026, with existing Otivo subscribers able to sign in with their credentials. From 1 July, Otivo will begin to charge for the app’s usage.
It comes not long after OpenAI launched their own financial advice feature on ChatGPT, available only to American premium users.
Otivo has positioned the app’s launch as a means to counter the growing numbers of Australians getting free advice through platforms such as ChatGPT and Claude, referring to recent warnings from ASIC about the reliability of such advice.
“ASIC Moneysmart research from March 2026 found 64 per cent of Gen Z Australians trust financial information on AI platforms,” Otivo said.
“The app sits inside the same regulatory perimeter as a traditional advice practice: best-interests duty, statement-of-advice documentation, and supervision by qualified human advisers.”
Though ASIC’s comments to ifa as to whether a platform such as OpenAI’s would work in Australia, other experts within the industry have been more certain it would fall well outside ASIC’s licensing framework.
“In its current US form, I’d be surprised if it cleared the bar. The moment a tool connects to your bank data and starts answering ‘should I put the spare $500 a month into super or the mortgage’, it’s hard to see how that stays on the general information side of the line,” Pivot Wealth founder Ben Nash told ifa.
“That’s the territory of personal advice in Australia, which brings in financial services licensing, Best Interests Duty, statement of advice requirements, the lot.”
In light of this, Otivo was explicit in their announcement that they are operating under an AFSL.
“General-purpose AI tools such as ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini are explicitly restricted from giving personal financial advice,” the firm emphasised.
Otivo also positioned the app as a solution to the growing capacity issue in advice.
“According to Adviser Ratings’ 2024 Australian Financial Advice Landscape Report, around 9 per cent of Australians work with a financial adviser, with the average initial statement of advice costing approximately $3,500 and ongoing advice running $2,000 to $4,000 a year.”
Nathan Islterling, chief information officer at Otivo, added: “Two hundred million people a month are asking ChatGPT financial questions and OpenAI has admitted it can’t give them advice. That’s the gap Otivo closes.”
“AI without licensing gives you speed without accountability. A licensed platform without AI gives you accountability without scale. Otivo delivers both.”
Dangerously oversimplified app. It recommended alternative to high growth as being in 100% unlisted asset option 🤣. Lists Property and Alternatives as Defensive asset classes?