UK consumers warm to AI in banking but resist handing over financial control, FIS research finds
UK consumers warm to AI in banking but resist handing over financial control, FIS research finds #
British consumers are increasingly comfortable seeing artificial intelligence in their banking apps, but most are unwilling to let it make autonomous decisions about their money, according to research published by financial technology firm FIS.
The findings come from a consumer pulse survey of 2,000 nationally representative UK adults, conducted by Opinium Research in late October 2025 and published by FIS in December. The research updates a comparable study FIS ran in 2023, allowing year-on-year tracking of how public attitudes to AI in financial services are shifting.
Consumer confidence has not kept pace with industry deployment. While 75% of UK financial firms now use AI, up from 58% in 2022 according to Bank of England and FCA data, a third of survey respondents (33%) said they have no trust at all in generative AI, barely changed from 30% two years ago. Half said the technology makes them anxious, and an equal proportion said they do not understand how AI could improve their financial experience. Only 16% reported a full understanding of AI’s potential in banking.
Attitudes toward the pace of change were also notable. Some 38% of consumers said banks and financial services firms are innovating too quickly, while just 7% felt they should be moving faster.
Where consumers see value in AI, the use cases are largely behind the scenes. Fraud detection and prevention was cited as the most positive application by 23% of respondents, followed by identity verification at 22% and faster customer service at 18%. FIS said the pattern suggests consumers are willing to embrace AI that bolsters security and convenience but remain wary of systems that demand data sharing or act autonomously on their behalf.
FIS segmented the population into four groups: early adopters (13%), who are confident and report that AI has already improved their banking; mainstream adopters (37%), who are open but cautious; late adopters (37%), who remain hesitant; and laggards (13%), who display the highest anxiety about AI technologies.
Kanv Pandit, Head of International Markets, Banking and Payments at FIS, said the findings underline a responsibility on banks to communicate more clearly. He called on firms to ensure that every new technology launch is accompanied by transparent explanations of how customer money and data will be protected.
The research was published as regulators also examine AI’s growing role in personal finance. The FCA recently conducted its own review into the impact of AI on retail financial services consumers.
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