Will AI replace loan interviewers and clerks?

Not replace, but it is changing the job. About 1h 34m of an 8-hour shift goes to tasks touched by AI working on its own. The other 6h 26m (81%) stays with people. Separately, BLS expects about 2.4% fewer of these jobs by 2035 (all jobs: +3.5%).

AI shows up regularly in 2 of 18 tasks, about 1h 34m of a typical shift. The biggest ones:

• Assemble and compile documents for loan closings, such as title abstracts, insurance forms, loan forms, and tax receipts. (50m a shift, AI mostly does it alone)
• Interview loan applicants to obtain personal and financial data and to assist in completing applications. (44m a shift, AI mostly does it alone)

6h 26m of a typical shift, or 81%, goes to tasks with no AI or robot evidence yet. No AI usage or robot deployment has shown up for these so far. The biggest:

• Verify and examine information and accuracy of loan application and closing documents. (1h 9m a shift)
• Prepare and type loan applications, closing documents, legal documents, letters, forms, government notices, and checks, using computers. (44m a shift)
• Record applications for loan and credit, loan information, and disbursements of funds, using computers. (37m a shift)
• Answer questions and advise customers regarding loans and transactions. (31m a shift)
• Contact customers by mail, telephone, or in person concerning acceptance or rejection of applications. (25m a shift)

Part of the answer is the setting, not just the tasks. Work that is in person, hands on or high stakes is where AI and robots have made the least headway so far. In the official O*NET survey of people in this job:

• 100% say dealing with the public is very or extremely important
• 97% are in constant contact with other people
• 69% talk face to face with others every day

We track 2 sourced company moves that affect this job. Most recent:

• Jul 20, 2026: Sovereign Lending Group gives all loan officers AI agents (Rolling out)
• May 12, 2026: Better.com's AI loan agent Betsy resolves 35% of borrower inquiries alone (Rolling out)

On Indeed, job postings in the Customer Service sector are at 87% of their February 2020 level (all U.S. postings: 104%), down 1.5% from a year earlier, as of Oct 9, 2026. BLS separately expects about 11,000 openings a year in this job through 2035. Across all U.S. postings, 7.3% now mention AI skills. Sector postings cover more than this one job and move for many reasons besides AI.

The median pay is about $50,020 a year ($24.05 an hour), 2% below the median for all U.S. jobs ($50,980). Most people in this job earn between $37,330 and $69,770 a year; that range covers the middle 80%. Pay figures are from BLS, May 2025, and vary a lot by state and employer. Pick a state to compare:

BLS projects a decline of 2.4% from 2025 to 2035, compared with 3.5% growth for all jobs. That's about 165,000 jobs in 2035. Even so, it expects about 11,000 openings a year, mostly from people retiring or changing careers. These projections don't single out AI as a cause.

About 165,000 people in the U.S., roughly 0.11% of all workers (BLS, May 2025). That makes it the 196th largest of the 796 jobs on this site. BLS expects about 165,000 in 2035.

The most common requirement is a high school diploma: about 43% of people in the job said so in the official O*NET survey. O*NET rates the job at level 3 of 5 for preparation, which usually means: vocational school or associate's degree. Requirements vary by state and employer, especially for licensed work.

These come from the job's official skill ratings and from the tasks that AI and robots touch least today. Building them keeps you strong in the parts of the work that still need a person:

• Skills that matter more here than in most jobs: Active Listening, Mathematics, Speaking, Reading Comprehension
• Get strong at the parts of the job that stay with people (listed above), which take 6h 26m of a typical shift
• Tools employers list: Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Office software, Microsoft Excel
• Learn to use AI well on the tasks where it already shows up in this job (listed above)

These use similar skills. Matches come from 109 official ratings of skills, knowledge and work activities, and each needs the same or less preparation unless the official list relates the jobs directly:

• Loan Officers (1h 43m touched, $77k median pay)
• Credit Counselors (2h 5m touched, $52k median pay)
• Credit Analysts (2h 5m touched, $84k median pay)
• Credit Authorizers, Checkers, and Clerks (1h 22m touched, $50k median pay)
• Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks (1h 58m touched, $51k median pay)

Each task carries its own evidence label. For this job: 2 observed in real AI use, 16 with no AI or robot evidence found. The minutes per task are estimates, not measured hours, and "no evidence" doesn't prove a task is safe.