UK FCA opens review into long-term impact of AI on retail financial services

Recent advances in AI – particularly generative AI – could transform retail financial services. The Financial Conduct Authority has launched a review to anticipate what might happen next. The FCA seeks feedback on how AI could evolve by 2030, how this could impact consumers, firms and markets, and how financial regulators should respond.

Responding to the rise of AI-driven finance

The FCA’s call for input notes ways in which AI can improve consumer outcomes. This includes better personalisation, customer understanding and support, and lower costs.

Firms need to balance opportunities with the risks. For example, the FCA flags AI-enabled fraud and financial crime, including risks arising from deepfake technologies and synthetic identities.

The FCA raises specific questions about agentic AI. These include asking whether market power will shift away from financial services firms and towards Big Tech and AI firms. The FCA also questions what “good outcomes” might mean in a world where consumers increasingly delegate financial decisions to AI agents.

The future regulatory approach

So far, the FCA has resisted setting AI-specific regulation. Instead, it has sought to leverage existing frameworks such as the Consumer Duty, operational resilience requirements and the Senior Managers and Certification Regime to oversee AI in financial services.

The call for input asks whether these frameworks are suitable to manage future risks. Given that the Treasury Committee recently called on the FCA to provide more guidance on how its rules apply to AI, feedback could influence policy development in this area. The FCA also wants to know how it can improve its approach to supervision and enforcement to respond to increased AI use.

Next steps

The deadline for responding to the FCA is 24 February 2026. This gives just four weeks for stakeholders to engage with this wide-reaching, crystal-ball-gazing call for input.

The review presents an opportunity for firms to reiterate their experiences of implementing effective AI compliance. The industry may also want to draw out how the UK’s outcomes-based regulatory approach compares to other jurisdictions, including the EU’s AI Act.

Sheldon Mills, who is running the review, will report to the FCA Board in the summer. The Mills Review will recommend how the FCA can help shape AI-enabled financial services.