Financial services, including Fintechs, are investing in artificial intelligence (AI) at a rapid pace. Consumers and businesses are already benefitting from the new technology, which can automate more services while improving products. For banks, it is not just about saving money; it is about maintaining relevance. Today, digital bank Zopa is sharing a report that predicts UK banks will invest over £1.8 billion into AI by 2030. At the same time, the report claims that it is a mass reskilling “opportunity” for 270,000 workers.
The report was completed in partnership with Juniper Research. The data was obtained from different sources, including regulators, associations, and Juniper’s own internal databases.
The report highlights the “seismic impact of Generative Artificial Intelligence (Gen AI) in the UK.”
Expectedly, productivity gains are anticipated with 187 million hours of labor saved over the next five years. The majority of efficiencies (~82%) are derived from back-office and administrative tasks in operations and compliance.
The savings are said to indicate that even in its early stages, GenAI can deliver outsized returns, especially for high street incumbents with large networks of retail branches and legacy IT systems, both of which are largely manual.
Peter Donlon, Chief Technology Officer at Zopa Bank, calls GenAI a paradigm shift that will influence productivity, software and decision making systems that will rival the advent of the internet.
“At Zopa, we’ve been operationalising machine learning for over a decade, well before LLMs became mainstream,” said Donlon. “That depth of experience has shaped our belief that GenAI isn’t a feature add-on, but a foundational capability. For Zopa technologists, it’s a rare chance to build entirely new intelligence layers, at a level that will redefine the industry.”
Clare Gambardella, Chief Customer Officer, says Generative AI is a once-in-a-generation shift, sharing that Zopa is focused on turning that innovation into meaningful value for customers.
“We’ve always believed in using technology to remove complexity and put people in control of their finances. With GenAI, we have the opportunity to continue on that journey – making the customer experience more intuitive, personalised, and intelligent than ever before for millions across the UK.”
The UK banking sector is at a tipping point, says Nick Maynard, VP of Fintech Market Research, positing that digital-only banks like Zopa are better positioned to benefit from the technology.
While the benefits may be clear, it is evident that job displacement will occur. The report claims that approximately 10% of all UK banking jobs may be lost or changed, impacting around 27,000 jobs.
As part of the report, Zopa has announced JOBS 2030, a five-year campaign to reskill 100,000 banking workers in AI disciplines by 2030. Today every Zopa employee has access to GenAI tools like ChatGPT—paired with advanced OpenAI-led training.
