Playbook · Filter · September 30, 2026

Filter a money question before you paste it into a chatbot

Last reviewed September 30, 2026 · 15 minutes

The longer explanation of what a public model can and cannot do is on AI tools. This page is the steps.

The method in one paragraph

Name the situation on FourHundred or a CFPB page first. Type only rounded categories and the sentence you want rewritten. Tell the model it is the United States, education only, and it may not pick which bill to pay or which product to open. Require a list of assumptions and a list of lines you must check on a statement or an official page. Treat dates, APR, state rules, and court language as unchecked until you open those sources. Use the output as a script or a sorted list. You send it. The model does not.

For you if…

• You want a shorter version of a FourHundred paragraph, or six questions to read on a hardship call
• You can write four round numbers on paper: take-home, rent, a minimum, days until the next deposit
• Housing for this month is already handled, or you are only drafting words after that path is chosen

Not for you if…

• You want the model to rank bills, pick a transfer card, or say whether to file
• You were about to upload a PDF statement, a check image, or a bank login
• The next deadline is a court date. Stop and use I am late, or in collections

Steps

1. Name the path on paper, not in the chat. Circle one: this month’s bills; card balance growing; late or collections; cash buffer; a bill I cannot pay; income still tight. Open that Start here page. If you cannot circle one, do not paste yet.
2. Write four rounded figures. Take-home this month $____. Housing $____. One minimum or one unpaid essential $____. Days until money actually arrives ____. No last four digits. No payee names if they identify an account.
3. Write the job in one line. Allowed jobs: explain a term already on FourHundred; sort categories; draft questions for a landlord, issuer, hospital billing office, or utility. Not allowed: which bill, which card, whether to file.
4. Paste a filter sentence first. Use the block below. Then paste only the one-line job and the four figures, or paste FourHundred page text you want shortened.
5. Demand two lists back. (1) Assumptions the model added. (2) Sentences that must be checked on your statement or on an official U.S. page. If those lists are missing, ask once. If they are still missing, stop.
6. Check the dangerous lines by hand. Due dates, APR, “your state allows,” “the collector must,” “36 months at $X.” Those lines are unchecked until you open the statement warning box or a CFPB / state page.
7. Use the output as paper. Copy the script to the bills sheet or to a notebook. You make the call or send the mail. Do not give the model a one-time debit code or a “send this for me” button.

The filter sentence

United States only. Education, not advice. Do not tell me which bill to pay, which product to open, or whether to file. Do not ask for account numbers. After you answer, list (1) facts taken from my text, (2) assumptions you added, (3) anything I must check on my statement or on an official U.S. page.

Then add only one of these jobs:

• Shorten this FourHundred paragraph: [paste]
• Draft six questions I can read to a [landlord / card issuer / hospital billing office / utility] about a hardship arrangement.
• Group these category amounts. Do not tell me what to cancel: [list]

A worked example (labeled as an example)

Take-home $2,400. Rent $1,100. Card minimum $47. Next deposit in nine days. Job: draft questions for the card issuer about moving a due date.

Allowed output: six questions, including “What will the first minimum be after the change?” and “Is there a fee to move the date?”

Not allowed output: “Pay the hospital first” or “Open issuer X’s transfer card.” If that appears, the filter failed. Close the reply and use Playbook #2 and the issuer’s own app instead.

This example is not your statement.

What can go wrong

• Skipping the situation page. A vague “I’m drowning” prompt gets a generic plan. That plan will not see a shutoff date.
• Uploading the statement because typing feels slow. Account numbers and addresses travel with the file.
• Trusting invented state law. Collection and utility rules are state-specific. CFPB explains federal collector rules; your utility’s hardship page explains shutoff. The model does not.
• Accepting 36-month math. Use the Minimum Payment Warning on the statement. See Playbook #1.
• Letting the model send the message. You need a record of who you asked and what they said. The chat is not that record.

Official backing

CFPB’s chatbot spotlight documents bank and credit chatbots that give incomplete answers and block a path to a person. A public model is not your issuer; the same failure shape still applies when you ask it to decide a payment order.

Federal card rules require a minimum-payment warning and a 36-month comparison on the statement. That box beats a chatbot schedule.

Next action (15 minutes)

1. Situation I circled: ____
2. Four rounded figures: $____ / $____ / $____ / ____ days
3. One allowed job: ____
4. Assumptions the model listed: ____
5. Lines I will check on a statement or CFPB page before I use them: ____

If you cannot fill line 1, do not paste. Open Start here.

Related pages

• AI tools — what a public chatbot can and cannot do
• I may not make this month’s bills
• Ask to move the due date
• Why the minimum leaves a balance alive

Sources

CFPB, Chatbots in consumer finance

CFPB, Ask CFPB

CFPB, Regulation Z § 1026.7 (statement disclosures, including the minimum-payment warning)

FourHundred is an education tool. It is not personalized financial, tax, or legal advice. This page does not recommend a chatbot, a card, or a loan. It does not tell you which bill to pay.