47 GenAI in Banking & Finance: Explainable AI Techniques for Financial Decision Models
Understanding Model Decisions in High-Stakes Financial Systems 1. Introduction Artificial Intelligence models are increasingly used to support financial decision-making. Banks and FinTech firms rely on machine learning systems for: Credit scoring Fraud detection Algorithmic trading Risk assessment Customer segmentation Many modern machine learning models, such as ensemble methods and neural networks, are highly predictive but difficult to interpret. These models are often referred to as black-box models because their internal decision logic is not easily understood by humans. In finance, this lack of transparency poses a significant challenge. Financial institutions must often justify their decisions to regulators, auditors, and customers. If a loan application is rejected or a transaction is flagged as fraudulent, stakeholders expect a clear explanation. This need for transparency has led to the development of Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) techniqu...