Financial services companies are uniquely positioned to capitalise on the benefits of artificial intelligence – and have been taking advantage for some time. Yet combine the broadening of use cases with the rapid speed of development and you see an industry that is being reinvented at an ‘unprecedented, and often uncomfortable’ speed and scale. 

That was the verdict of a whitepaper published by the World Economic Forum, in collaboration with Accenture, in January. The report suggested around one third of the work performed across capital markets, insurance, and banking businesses has ‘high potential’ to be fully automated. $97 billion (£71.3bn) is predicted to be spent by the financial services sector in 2027 – it was $35bn in 2023 – while around 70% of executives in the sector believe AI will directly contribute to revenue growth in the coming years. 

A month later, these themes were echoed by NVIDIA when the company released its influential State of AI in Financial Services report. The survey, now in its fifth edition, noted that many of the initial roadblocks to generative AI deployment, such as data and privacy issues, were diminishing as companies became more confident. So too were concerns over insufficient data for model training. In all, more than two thirds of those polled reported that AI had driven a revenue increase of at least 5%, with nearly a quarter planning to use AI to create new business opportunities and revenue streams. 

“There’s been a noticeable shift toward leveraging AI for creating competitive advantages, improving customer experiences, and enhancing employee productivity,” the report noted. “These areas have seen increased focus as companies strive to harness AI, not just for cost savings, but as a catalyst for transformation and growth.” 

Both of these reports have a global outlook. But what can be extrapolated from this for the European market?  

The difference between the financial services landscape in Europe and North America, both in size and structure, must be noted. As a Trendline article argued, two key trends driving the stark divergence between the two are economic growth and the dominance of US technology firms. Ultimately, the US leads the world by some distance in AI, and this has a knock-on effect. According to the Stanford Global Vibrancy Tool, the US scores maximum points in 21 indicators; China, in second, has seven. 

This is not to say that Europe is not taking advantage. Earlier this month, at VivaTech in Paris, NVIDIA said Europe’s financial services industry was going ‘all in on AI’, with myriad customers showcased. These ranged from accelerating fraud detection, to real-time risk modelling, to customer service applications. One fintech provider is seeing data analysis pipelines take under 10 seconds from minutes previously, while another neobank boosted fraud detection workflows with data processing accelerated to the tune of 5x. Multiple clients have successfully built AI assistants.  

What does AI adoption look like for the UK financial services market? A good place to start is with the Bank of England’s most recent AI in UK financial services survey. The BoE finds that three quarters (75%) of firms are already using AI, with a further 10% coming on board in the next three years. Insurance firms and international banks were at 95% and 94% usage respectively, with the number dropping to 57% for financial infrastructure firms. 

More than half (55%) of all AI use cases have some degree of automated decision-making, according to BoE figures, with around a quarter (24%) being semi-autonomous. Only 2% of use cases have fully autonomous decision-making, however, with only 16% of use cases considered of high materiality. Primary use cases are optimisation of internal processes, cybersecurity, and fraud detection, while customer support is anticipated to grow substantially in the coming three years. 

The UK’s fintech ecosystem remains a jewel in its financial services crown. The UK FinTech Impact Report found 98% of the country’s more than 3,500 fintech companies positively impact productivity. While the UK has retained second position for overall funding at $4.9bn in 2024 – behind the US, naturally – this represents a slight downturn on the previous year.  

This likewise shows the transformative effect of AI in the sector, providing a challenging investment climate for the near term, but big opportunities for the future. Speaking to Tech Funding News in March, Teo Blidarus, CEO and co-founder of FintechOS, noted how regtech, banking-as-a-service, and Insurtech were integrating AI into their capabilities. “While overall fintech funding declined in 2024, AI-driven innovation sparks renewed interest and potential growth,” said Blidarus.  

HSBC Innovation Banking’s 2025 Fintech Report likewise argues that the ‘second wave’ of fintech transformation, driven by AI, is defined by embedded finance, with financial services being seamlessly integrated into non-financial platforms. “From commerce and mobility to SaaS and creator platforms, embedded financial tools coupled with AI-native financial capabilities promise to lower acquisition and servicing costs, unlock novel monetisation opportunities, and enable new classes of autonomous uber-efficient financial products,” the report promises. 

Writing for Global Venturing earlier this month, Robert Lavine asks whether the UK can keep its fintech crown amid the rise of AI. Speaking with multiple VCs, Lavine found opinions varied. Some see France as a rival – French president Emmanuel Macron announced the launch of a $400 million AI asset creation fund during the Paris-hosted Artificial Intelligence Action Summit in February – while others cite the UK’s strong AI talent base, bolstered by academia, as key. 

Breaking bread with big tech will also be vital. The French AI fund has Google and Salesforce as primary partners, for example. Yet the UK has an ace up its sleeve. A recent announcement from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) of a ‘supercharged’ digital sandbox, aimed at startups who don’t have their own AI infrastructure.  

Jessica Rusu, FCA chief data, information and intelligence officer, remarked that the supercharged sandbox, with NVIDIA as partner, will ‘strengthen the UK’s position as a global fintech leader.’ “It’s a chance to show why the UK remains the most attractive destination for financial services startups; helping to draw top global talent in AI; reinforcing our leadership among global financial regulators and central banks, positioning the UK at the forefront of driving innovation in AI,” said Rusu. 

At FinTech Connect, on December 2-3, uncover the transformative power of artificial intelligence in financial services. Find out more and register here.