UK Financial Firms to Boost Generative AI Investment to 16% by 2025

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UK financial services firms plan to increase their generative AI investment from 12% to 16% of technology budgets by 2025, according to new research from UK Finance and Accenture. The report reveals that 38% of financial institutions have developed comprehensive AI roadmaps for integration based on value, feasibility, and risk appetite.

Jana Mackintosh, Managing Director of Payments and Innovation at UK Finance, stated: "The sector has many years of experience in safely deploying innovative technology. This positions it well to harness the potential of generative AI while maintaining robust controls." The research identifies seven core areas where AI is delivering value, with case studies showing 30-50% reduction in customer complaint handling times and 90% faster KYC processing.

Peter Hairs, Managing Director of Financial Services at Accenture UK, noted: "We are seeing examples of generative AI deployments driving real adoption and efficiencies," while emphasizing growing awareness of AI's risks and limitations. The report, "Generative AI in Action: Opportunities & Risk Management in Financial Services," outlines how institutions are implementing AI while maintaining strict risk controls.

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Marcel

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The latest FinTech partnerships reveal three powerful shifts shaping the future of payments 👇

FINTECH NEWS

🇺🇸 Trump Media and Technology Group Corp. launched Truth Fi. It would focus on “American growth, manufacturing, and energy companies as well as investments that strengthen the Patriot Economy,” this will develop separately managed accounts, ETFs and Bitcoin in partnership with Charles Schwab Corp.

🇺🇸 ai16z officially rebrands to ElizaOS. As the project became one of the largest AI agent platforms in the blockchain space, it needed a more serious rebranding that did not potentially violate trademarks. ElizOS's cryptocurrency token is currently priced at $0.6, with a market capitalization exceeding $600 million.

🇦🇪 Arab Financial Services expands into UAE. This move follows the successful acquisition of a Retail Payment Services License, category II from the Central Bank of the UAE, allowing it to introduce a comprehensive suite of innovative and secure payment solutions tailored to the country's dynamic financial landscape, the company said.

PAYMENTS NEWS

🇵🇹 Ecommpay adds MB Way to payment platform for seamless pay-ins and refunds. Merchant clients based in any geography can offer MB Way as a payment option for Portuguese customers, simplifying and accelerating expansion into Portugal, also, customers can make EUR payments, send or request money, and manage funds using their mobile application.

🌍 DEUNA’s Aware AI: transforming data chaos into commerce growth. The platform enables merchants to automate data preparation, systematize insight discovery, and deliver proactive, actionable strategies that boost customer lifetime value, streamline operations, and optimize payment performance in real time.

🇧🇷 New feature of Brazil's Pix system to draw $30 billion in e-commerce payments. Pix, an online instant payment system, has become Brazilians' favorite way to pay, surpassing credit and debit cards and nearly killing the use of cash. It currently handles over 2 trillion reais ($338 billion) in transactions per month.

🇪🇬 Paymob and Woo partner to revolutionize e-commerce in MENA. As a result of this collaboration, Paymob’s checkout experience is now seamlessly embedded into the WooCommerce Marketplace, providing merchants with streamlined access to its comprehensive suite of digital payment solutions. 

🌍 Cauridor has a fix for the biggest cross-border payments issues. Its platform supports mobile wallets, bank transfers, and cash pickups through a network of more than 25,000 agents across Guinea, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone and Liberia. Also, is adopting a hybrid approach to solving the money transfer problem.

REGTECH NEWS

🇦🇷 Coinbase Gets Green Light for debut in Argentina. After regulators in that South American nation gave their approval for the U.S.-based cryptocurrency exchange to begin operating there. It has secured a Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) registration from the country’s National Securities Commission (CNV).

🇬🇧 FCA fines Infinox £99,200. Infinox failed to submit transaction reports for single-stock contracts for difference (CFD) trades executed through one of its corporate brokerage accounts. The FCA independently identified this discrepancy in transaction data submitted between 1 October 2022 and 31 March 2023.

🌍 Bitpanda CEO Eric Demuth: The AI Act sabotages the future of Europe. “AI is the most transformative technology of our time and yet it feels like decisions about it were made by people carrying flip-cover phones. We have developed an irrational fear of anything involving data. Europe has zero chance of being a leader in this space.”

🇪🇺 Sumsub joins Payments Association EU, to help stop ID fraud in digital transactions. It will have the opportunity to speak to policymakers and senior industry leaders to advocate for more effective protections against the growing threat of identity fraud.

DIGITAL BANKING NEWS

🇬🇧 UK Finance: AI Spend to Hit Record Levels in 2025. UK Finance’s joint research with Accenture reveals financial firms will allocate 16% of technology budgets to AI as automation accelerates. The joint study reveals a sector taking measured steps toward automation while maintaining strict risk controls.

🇬🇧 Sustainable money app Zero goes live. The app Zero is opening for investments on Crowd Cube as it begins the roll out of its debit card, personal current account, and app for climate-conscious consumers. Zero cofounder is a serial entrepreneur who founded Wealthify, ActiveQuote and FinTech Wales.

🇬🇧 Pleo enters treasury space. A head of Pleo, says: "Automation of manual workflows and processes, reconciliation and integrations with their other tools is at the core of what we do. Hence for us, stepping into treasury was an easy decision, especially as so many of our customers already use our cash management tools."

🇪🇬 Bank NXT taps Red Hat to power next-gen banking in Egypt. The collaboration focuses on leveraging Red Hat’s hybrid cloud solutions to enhance operational efficiency, deliver superior customer experiences, and strengthen security measures.

🇬🇧 Lloyds to shut 136 branches in UK. It would close 61 Lloyds branches along with 61 Halifax and 14 Bank of Scotland sites between May 2025 and March 2026. The closures will not result in job reductions and the affected personnel will be offered a role at another branch or part of its business.

🇺🇸 HSBC’s longshot dream of rivaling Wall Street comes to an end. The London-based lender began informing select managers in its corporate advisory and equity underwriting teams in New York, London, and continental Europe that it was shuttering their businesses. 

🇬🇧 Form3 appoints Mark Fieldhouse as its new CRO. Mark joins to lead the company’s ongoing expansion of its customer base across key markets. He will work with leading banks and financial institutions to offer solutions available on its platform that provide best-in-class cloud payment technology.

🇺🇸 Alliant Credit Union selects Backbase to accelerate digital banking innovation. This collaboration will empower Alliant to enhance its digital member experiences and will continue its track record as one of the most innovative financial institutions in the nation.

BLOCKCHAIN/CRYPTO NEWS

🇨🇿 Czech central bank head wants it to buy billions of euros in bitcoin, a groundbreaking move that could make it the first western central bank known to hold crypto assets. Governor Aleš Michl said that he would present a plan to the board to invest in bitcoin as a way of diversifying the CNB’s reserves at a meeting.

🇺🇸 GCEX integrates with Fireblocks digital asset network. This will enabling its institutional clients to access Fireblocks’ digital asset platform and custody solutions to manage digital asset operations and build innovative businesses on blockchain.

🇺🇸 Trump's digital dollar ban gives China and Europe's CBDCs free rein. Donald Trump's rapid move to ban a "digital dollar" has left the field wide open for China and Europe to make their already-advanced central bank digital currency (CBDC) prototypes into global standard-setters.

PARTNERSHIPS

🇬🇧 Delta Capita and HSBC sign multi-year deal for OTC derivatives services.  The partnership highlights Delta Capita’s innovative infrastructure-as-a-service model, which standardises post-trade processes, lowers industry costs, and addresses complex regulatory demands. 

🇬🇧 Y-Combinator Alumni Grey to partner with Clear Junction on global payments. The FinTech aims to provide banking services in emerging markets. Current products include multi-currency accounts, real-time money transfers, and virtual cards.

🇺🇸 Skipify teams up with Retail Realm. With this merger, Retail Realm’s merchants can implement a pay-by-link feature, allowing shoppers to finalise their purchases with a single click via SMS or email. Skipify automatically recognizes shoppers and displays their payment cards and financing options at checkout.

DONEDEAL FUNDING NEWS

🇺🇸 Yavrio raises $2.4 million in seed funding. It plans to use the funds for infrastructure and geographical expansion, pointing to increased work in the US. Its platform connects ERP platforms directly to banks, removing the need for manual CSV file uploads, saying this leads to fast and secure transactions.

🌍 NjiaPay secures $1M+ pre-seed funding. “The funding will enable us to scale our team in Amsterdam and Cape Town and further enhance our platform’s capabilities. Our mission is to empower African businesses by simplifying the complexities of payments,” said Co-founder and CEO of  NjiaPay.

🇫🇷 Formance raises $ 21M to build the AWS for FinTech infrastructure. The startup started out trying to capitalize on this need with an open-source, programmable financial ledger that can track all assets moving in and out of your accounts, that product is serving as the backbone for a broader, more ambitious infrastructure play.

🇺🇸 Finout raises $40 million Series C funding round for cloud expenditure platform. This investment, secured at double the valuation of their Series B, brings Finout's total funding to $85 million and $66M in just 8 months. The company's platform, which powers cloud-agnostic cost allocation and governance for industry leaders reflects the rapid mainstreaming of FinOps.

M&A

🇮🇪 Lemfi completes acquisition of Bureau Buttercran. The deal, which received regulatory approval from the Central Bank of Ireland, enables Lemfi to use its Irish licence to operate across the European Economic Area (EEA) using a system called passporting, unlocking new growth opportunities.

🇺🇸 Divvy Homes is selling for $1B, so why is its founder not proud of the outcome? “On the surface, the outcome didn’t seem terrible however we realized that the deal wasn’t really so rosy for many shareholders. Because Divvy had taken out so much debt, including a $735 million debt financing in 2021,” said CEO and Co-Founder.

MOVERS AND SHAKERS

🇬🇧 Santander UK chair to step down. William Vereker, who took up the role in 2020, will step down during the course of 2025. His departure comes amid speculation over Santander's future in the UK, with Banco Santander reportedly reconsidering its presence in Britain.

🇬🇧 Starling announced it had appointed a new COO Joe Gordon. Gordon said: "Starling has transformed customer experience in UK banking. With my brilliant colleagues across the bank, I’m looking forward to further innovation for customers to set us apart and help us grow."

🇺🇸 Trump Campaign Manager Chris LaCivita and Former NY Fed President William Dudley join Coinbase as advisers. Coinbase is looking to expand in areas such as payments and tokenized assets, including traditional financial products represented on blockchain ledgers.

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