FCA publishes landmark review into impact of AI on retail financial services 

Led by FCA executive director Sheldon Mills and commissioned by the Board, The Mills Review[2] is the first work of its kind initiated by a regulator globally.

Drawing on views from across the financial services landscape, the report identifies 4 major AI‑driven shifts likely to impact retail financial services: the transformation of firm operations; the evolution of consumer journeys; the reshaping of competition and market power; and the amplification of fraud and cyber risks.

The report finds there is already consumer appetite for the use of agentic AI in personal finance, with research commissioned by the FCA showing that a fifth of people – equivalent to 11 million UK adults – are likely to use AI that can act autonomously within pre-set goals. But consumers in the survey are concerned about trust and control of AI.

The Review concludes that AI is likely to become a defining force in retail financial services, transforming how firms operate, how consumers make financial decisions and how markets function. While AI has the potential to improve access, personalisation and efficiency, it could also amplify risks associated with fraud, cyber security, consumer harm and market concentration.

Executive director Sheldon Mills said: 'Artificial intelligence will transform financial services by 2030. It creates significant opportunities for consumers, firms and the wider economy. This report sets out a roadmap for how industry regulators and government can prepare for the next phase of AI-driven change in our world-leading financial services sector.'

Key recommendations

The Mills Review also outlines 7 recommendations for the FCA Board and Executive to consider, which are as follows:

1. Secure and adapt the regulatory perimeter.
2. Strengthen system-wide coordination and oversight.
3. Monitor the transition to autonomous models and adapt regulatory frameworks.
4. Scale up the FCA's AI Lab to support AI models and system innovation in financial services.
5. Enable the foundations for agentic finance.
6. Build and adopt an AI-enabled agentic supervisory model.
7. Develop a trusted public-interest AI-enabled financial capability service.

FCA response

Ashley Alder, Chair of the FCA, said: 'The Board is enormously grateful to Sheldon for the rich, comprehensive report he’s delivered. His work anticipates the fundamental change agentic AI will bring to financial services. It highlights how consumers and firms can reap significant potential benefits as well how risks can be managed.

'As is clear in the report, we need to keep pace with a rapidly changing environment and the principles-based, outcomes focussed approach we’ve taken on AI – relying on the Consumer Duty and Senior Managers Regime – has been critical to us doing so. The recommendations build on work the FCA has been doing – not least allowing firms to test their use of AI with us – and our own use of AI to be a smarter regulator, more efficient and effective.'

Notes to editors

1. Read The Mills Review[2].
2. In January, the FCA launched a review into the implications of advanced AI on consumers, retail financial markets and regulators.
3. The Review was led by Sheldon Mills and builds on the FCA’s existing work on AI. This includes its AI Discussion Paper[3], AI Sprint[4], and AI Lab[5] including AI Live Testing[6] and its groundbreaking Supercharged Sandbox[7] supported by NVIDIA.
4. As part of The Mills Review, in April 2026, Yonder Consulting conducted a survey of more than 5,000 UK retail financial services consumers (PDF)[8], defined as individuals holding a day-to-day bank account, such as a current or savings account. 
5. Quotas were set to ensure the survey was representative of the population of UK retail finance service consumers on key demographics including age, gender, ethnicity, region, housing tenure and internet ability.
6. As part of the survey, consumers were presented with a range of plausible near‑term use cases for AI in financial services. The findings show that 20% of consumers would be likely to use AI capable of acting autonomously within pre-set goals.
7. Running in parallel to this work, the FCA will launch an AI good and poor practice publication later this year. As part of this work, the regulator has engaged directly with firms to find out what is working well, where firms are facing challenges, and where further clarity would help.
8. Find out more on how the FCA is engaging with firms to help shape its approach to AI[9].