How to Connect Your UK Bank Account to Gemini (2026)

Short answer: not in the Gemini app yet, if you're in the UK. Gemini can now read outside tools through custom apps, which is the feature that would let it see your bank data through Aureli. But Google limits custom apps to users in the US. In the UK, the working route today is the Gemini CLI, a command-line tool aimed at developers. It works well once it's set up, but it's not the five-minute, click-through setup you get in Claude or Grok.

This guide covers both routes. If you're in the US, you can use the Gemini app. If you're in the UK and comfortable in a terminal, you can use the Gemini CLI. We also say plainly when another assistant is the better choice. Either way, Gemini never connects to your bank itself. It reads your bank data through Aureli, which holds the FCA-regulated open banking connection and exposes it at https://aureli.app/api/mcp.

Where Gemini stands in the UK

Google has three products called Gemini that could reach Aureli. As of October 2026, here's how each one works for a UK user:

Table: Ways to connect Gemini to an MCP server, October 2026.

The Gemini app is the one most people mean when they say "Gemini", and it's the one that matters here. Google's help page for custom apps sets four conditions: you must be 18 or over and in the US, signed in with a personal Google Account, with Keep Activity turned on. A UK account doesn't see the option at all. Google hasn't given a date for the UK, and we won't guess one. When it arrives, we'll update this post that day.

Gemini Enterprise lets a company's admin add MCP servers. That feature is in preview, it's built for business tools, and it asks for an OAuth client that has been set up by hand. It isn't a sensible way to look at your personal finances, so we won't cover it here.

What about Gemini's own spending feature?

In late September 2026, Google started rolling out a Google Wallet integration in Gemini for US users. If you link accounts to Google Wallet through Plaid, Gemini can read your spending from them. It's the Google answer to ChatGPT Finances, and it has the same problem for UK readers: it's US-only. It also covers spending from linked accounts, not your savings, pensions, ISAs, property or mortgage, so it's not a net worth view either.

What connecting Aureli actually gives Gemini

Aureli connects to your UK bank accounts through Open Banking. It also runs an MCP (Model Context Protocol) server, the open standard that lets AI assistants call outside tools. Gemini's custom apps and the Gemini CLI both use it.

Once you connect, Gemini can read your financial data from Aureli. That includes balances across your current accounts, savings, ISAs, pensions, investments, mortgages and credit cards. It can summarise your net worth, explain your asset allocation, and answer questions about your own numbers.

If you switch on transaction data when you connect a UK bank, Gemini can also read the individual payments behind those balances. It sees each one's date, amount, description, merchant and category, and whether it's still pending. That lets you ask "what did I spend on groceries last month?" as well as "how much is in my current account?". Transaction data is optional and off by default.

With edit access, Gemini can also update what you track by hand in Aureli, such as your property's value or a private investment, and ask your connected banks for fresh data. Bank-linked accounts keep syncing through Open Banking either way.

What Gemini cannot do: move money, open or close accounts, or take any action with your bank. Its access stops at Aureli.

The Aureli MCP server is free on every Aureli plan, including Lite.

Step 1: Connect your bank to Aureli

You need this step for both routes.

Sign up at aureli.app and connect your bank accounts. You sign in through your bank's own app or website, and Aureli gets read-only access to your balances. Lloyds, Barclays, HSBC, Monzo, Starling, NatWest, Revolut and most other major UK banks are supported.

To let Gemini see your transactions as well as your balances, switch on Include transaction data (optional) on the review screen before you go to your bank. You can only choose this at that point, because Open Banking consents are fixed once you authorise them. To add it to an existing connection, you have to remove it and connect again. Tracking bank transactions has the details.

Step 2 (UK): Add Aureli to the Gemini CLI

The Gemini CLI is Google's open-source Gemini assistant that runs in a terminal. It supports remote MCP servers with OAuth, so it works with Aureli the same way Claude Code does.

There's one change to know about first. Since 18 June 2026, Google no longer lets individuals use the Gemini CLI by signing in with a Google account. That applies to the free tier and to Google AI Pro and Ultra subscribers. Google now points individuals to its newer Antigravity CLI. The Gemini CLI still works with a Gemini API key, so that's the route this guide uses.

What you'll need:

• A free Aureli account with at least one UK bank connected
• Node.js 20 or later
• A Gemini API key from Google AI Studio
• About 15 minutes

1. Get a Gemini API key. Sign in to Google AI Studio, choose Get API key, and create a key. We recommend turning on billing for it. On the free tier of the Gemini API, Google's terms allow it to use your prompts and responses to improve its products, and those prompts will include your finances. A paid key costs pennies for this kind of use.

2. Install the Gemini CLI and give it your key. In a terminal, run:

npm install -g @google/gemini-cli

export GEMINI_API_KEY="your-key-here"

The export line only lasts for this terminal session. To keep the key, add the line to your shell profile (~/.zshrc on a Mac).

3. Add the Aureli MCP server.

gemini mcp add --transport http aureli https://aureli.app/api/mcp

The --transport http part matters. Without it, the CLI treats the server as a local program and the connection fails.

4. Start Gemini and authorise Aureli. Run gemini, choose Use Gemini API Key if it asks how to sign in, and then type:

/mcp auth aureli

Your browser opens Aureli's sign-in page. Sign in and choose a scope:

• Read — Gemini can read your portfolios, balances, net worth, allocation, valuations and, on accounts you opted in, transactions.
• Read and edit — adds changes that stay inside Aureli. These are: adding and updating the assets and debts you track, recording trades, keeping valuations current, archiving holdings, filing transactions under spending categories, and asking your connected banks for fresh data. It still can't move money or change a bank connection.

Confirm, go back to the terminal, and run /mcp to check that Aureli shows as connected with its tools listed.

The CLI opens the sign-in page in a browser on the same computer, so do this on your own machine rather than over SSH.

Step 2 (US): Add Aureli as a custom app in Gemini

If you're 18 or over and in the US, the Gemini app does the same job without a terminal:

1. Go to gemini.google.com on a computer. Custom apps can only be added on the web, though they work in the mobile app afterwards.
2. Open Settings at the bottom of the sidebar, then Connected Apps.
3. Under Custom apps, choose Add a custom app.
4. Paste https://aureli.app/api/mcp and choose Next.
5. Sign in to Aureli in the window that opens and choose Read or Read and edit, as described above.

To use it, type @ in a Gemini prompt and pick Aureli. Gemini asks you to confirm before every change, so a write never happens without you seeing it first. Custom apps only work in English for now.

What you can ask Gemini

A few prompts to try once you're set up:

• "What's my current net worth?"
• "How much do I have across all my ISAs?"
• "What's my mortgage balance compared to my property's equity?"
• "Break down my asset allocation by type."
• "How has my net worth changed over the last 3 months?"
• "What are my five largest assets right now?"
• "Update my flat's valuation to £450,000." — this one needs Read and edit.

With transaction data switched on, you can ask about spending too:

• "What did I spend on groceries last month?"
• "Find every subscription charge since January and total them up."
• "My current account is down £400 this month. What moved?"
• "Compare what I spent on eating out in Q1 and Q2."

Gemini can also reason about the numbers: "If I overpaid £500 a month on my mortgage, how long would it take to clear?" The more of your accounts you connect to Aureli, the fuller the picture it has.

Should UK users wait, or use another assistant?

If you live in a terminal already, the Gemini CLI route is fine and it works today. If you don't, we'd point you elsewhere for now rather than send you through API keys and shell profiles to ask about your ISA.

The same Aureli URL works as a custom connector in other assistants, with no terminal and no API key:

• Claude — Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector, on the web, desktop and mobile apps. Available in the UK.
• Grok — the + menu in the composer → Add connector → Custom. Available in the UK.

When Google brings custom apps to the UK, the Gemini app setup above will take about five minutes and needs nothing else from you. Your Aureli account and bank connections carry over unchanged.

Security and privacy

For the wider picture, see our guide on whether it's safe to connect AI to your bank account.

Open Banking is FCA-regulated. Aureli Tech Limited (FRN 1056139) is a registered agent of Finexer Ltd (FRN 925695), which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority as an Account Information Service Provider (AISP).

Neither Aureli nor Google sees your banking credentials. When you connect a UK bank, you sign in directly with the bank. Finexer receives a token that gives read-only access to account information and balances, and shares that information with Aureli. Learn more

Gemini's access is limited to Aureli, not your bank. The connector exposes a fixed set of tools. Read access covers your portfolio data and, on the accounts you opted in, your transactions. Edit access adds changes inside Aureli only. Neither scope can move money, open or close accounts, or change a bank connection.

Transaction data is opt-in, and deleting it takes one click. If you leave the toggle off, Aureli syncs balances only and there are no transactions for Gemini to read. If you switch it on, Delete transaction data in the connection's menu permanently removes every transaction Aureli holds for that connection, without touching your accounts, balances or holdings.

You can disconnect at any time. Revoke Gemini from Profile → Security → Connected Apps in Aureli, run gemini mcp remove aureli in the CLI, or unlink the custom app in Gemini's settings. Managing connected apps covers it.

We don't sell your data or share it with advertisers. The full details are in our privacy policy.

What you discuss with Gemini is processed by Google under its terms, and that's the part to weigh rather than the bank link. In the Gemini app, custom apps need Keep Activity on, so your chats are saved to your Google account. On the API's free tier, Google may use your prompts to improve its products. A paid API key doesn't allow that.

Common questions about connecting Gemini to your bank

Can Gemini connect to my bank account?

Not directly. Gemini holds no banking licence and no UK open banking connection of its own, so it reaches your accounts through a service that already has one. Aureli holds an FCA-regulated open banking connection to your UK banks and exposes your portfolio as an MCP server. Gemini can read it once you add it: through custom apps in the Gemini app in the US, or through the Gemini CLI everywhere else. Keeping the regulated connection with a regulated firm also gives you one place to revoke access.

Can I add a custom MCP server to the Gemini app in the UK?

Not yet. Google's help page for custom apps in Gemini limits them to people aged 18 or over in the US, signed in with a personal Google Account and with Keep Activity turned on. UK users don't see the option. Google hasn't announced a date for the UK, and we'll update this post when it does. Until then, the Gemini CLI is the UK route, and Claude and Grok both take the same Aureli URL from their normal settings.

Does Gemini support UK open banking?

Not on its own. Gemini is not an open banking participant and holds no FCA authorisation. UK open banking access comes from the tool you connect it to. Aureli Tech Limited (FRN 1056139) is a registered agent of Finexer Ltd (FRN 925695), which is authorised and regulated by the FCA as an Account Information Service Provider, so connecting Aureli is what puts UK open banking data in front of Gemini. Claude, ChatGPT and Grok work the same way, using the same Aureli MCP server.

Can Gemini see my bank transactions?

Yes, through Aureli, if you switch transaction data on. It's optional and off by default. An Include transaction data toggle appears on the review screen when you connect a UK bank. Because Open Banking consents are fixed once you authorise them, you have to choose it then rather than add it later. With it on, Gemini can read transactions for a date range you specify: date, amount, description, merchant, category, and whether a payment is still pending. One read returns up to 200 transactions, so for a longer span Gemini narrows the range and reads again. Google's own spending feature, which reads accounts linked to Google Wallet through Plaid, is US-only.

Is it safe to connect Gemini to my bank?

Gemini never touches your bank. You sign in directly with your bank's own app or website, your credentials are never shared with Aureli or Google, and the bank connection itself is read-only whatever you grant Gemini. Gemini's access stops at Aureli and cannot move money, open or close accounts, or change a bank connection. The part worth weighing is what Google does with your conversations. On the Gemini API's free tier, Google may use prompts and responses to improve its products, so use a paid API key if you take the CLI route.

Get started

Sign up at aureli.app and connect a bank account. Then add https://aureli.app/api/mcp to the Gemini CLI, or to the Gemini app if you're in the US. If you'd rather skip the terminal, you can paste the same URL into Claude or Grok today.