LendingTree Connects ChatGPT Conversations to Its Financial Services Marketplace

LendingTree has launched a ChatGPT plug-in that enables consumers to explore current mortgage and refinance rates through a natural conversation with the artificial intelligence assistant.

Consumers using the ChatGPT plug-in can share their estimated credit score, state and loan amount to learn how those factors can affect available rates, LendingTree said in a Tuesday (Aug. 4) press release.

When they’re ready, consumers can seamlessly continue to the LendingTree.com financial services marketplace to compare personalized offers from LendingTree’s network of vendors, according to the release.

“Consumers are changing how they research financial decisions, and we’re meeting them where they are,” LendingTree CEO Scott Peyree said in the release. “Our ChatGPT plug-in brings the power of LendingTree’s mortgage marketplace into a conversational experience, making it easier to explore rates and understand the impact of key borrowing factors before applying for a loan.”

The PYMNTS Intelligence report “How AI Becomes the Place Consumers Start Everything” found that 38.7% of AI users said AI had fully or mostly replaced their old methods of managing finances and banking and that 32.7% said the same of shopping and purchasing.

“Consumers are steadily shifting toward an AI-first way of navigating daily life,” the report said. “Prompt-based AI is beginning to replace both traditional search behaviors and long-standing routines. Even Light Users are showing month-over-month growth in the simplest, most intuitive tasks.”

ChatGPT creator OpenAI said Friday (July 31) that its models now reach more than 1 billion active users and more than 2 million businesses.

OpenAI has found that these users deploy AI more often and more deeply as they gain confidence in it. Among individuals, after six months of using the technology, people send 50% more messages each day and use ChatGPT for twice as many kinds of work.

LendingTree expanded its product and AI offerings during the quarter ended June 30, Peyree said in a Wednesday (July 29) press release. The company launched its ChatGPT app, expanded its marketplace into six new verticals, and saw strong results from its homepage redesign, Peyree said.

“We remain laser-focused as a team on executing our strategy to become the Number One Destination to Shop For Financial Products,” Peyree said in the release.