Data analytics maintained its position as the leading AI application among financial services firms in 2024. A 2024 industry survey indicated that ** percent of companies leveraged AI for data analytics, showing modest growth from the previous year. Generative AI experienced the strongest year-over-year adoption increase, becoming the second most widely used AI technology, with more than half of firms either implementing or evaluating the technology. Reflecting this growing embrace of AI solutions, the financial sector's investment in AI technologies continues to surge, with spending projected to reach over ** billion U.S. dollars in 2025 and more than double to *** billion U.S. dollars by 2028. The main benefits of AI in the financial services sector Financial services firms reported that AI delivered the greatest value through operational efficiencies, according to a 2024 industry survey. The technology also provided significant competitive advantages, cited by ** percent of respondents as a key benefit. Enhanced customer experience emerged as the third most important advantage of AI adoption in the sector. Adoption across business segments The integration of AI varies across different areas of financial services. In 2023, operations lead the way with a ** percent adoption rate, closely followed by risk and compliance at ** percent. In customer experience and marketing, voice assistants, chatbots, and conversational AI are the most common AI applications. Meanwhile, financial reporting and accounting dominate AI use in operations and finance.

Within the financial services industry, most respondents state that improvements in fraud detection is the most important use case of artificial intelligence. Artificial intelligence improves fraud detection by combining supervised learning algorithms with unsupervised learning to the effect of gaining a better understanding of customers' behaviors. A better understanding of customers' behaviors allows organizations to better identify and prevent unauthorized activity.

In 2024, ********************************** emerged as the leading generative AI use case in financial services based on return on investment. ** percent of respondents reported the highest ROI from AI-driven trading and portfolio optimization. Additionally, ** percent cited customer experience and engagement as delivering the best returns, while ** percent identified report generation and document processing as their most profitable AI applications.

According to a survey carried out between April and May 2022, the most widely used applications of artificial intelligence (AI) in the financial services industry were ************************************************* in the customer experience and marketing business segment, as well as financial reporting and accounting in the operations and finance segment. Marketing personalization and cloud pricing optimization were also among the processes that used AI on a day-to-day basis. In 2022, the wide scale adoption of AI in financial businesses was relatively high, but only a small share of business leaders found AI to be critical in their businesses.

GenAI saw significant growth across financial services in 2024, with ** percent of survey respondents reporting active use of the technology - up from ** percent in 2023. The companies primary generative AI use case was enhancing customer experience and engagement, particularly through applications like chatbots, virtual assistants, and agent support tools.

The financial sector's spending on artificial intelligence (AI) is projected to experience substantial growth, with an estimated increase from ** billion U.S. dollars in 2023 to ***** billion U.S. dollars in 2028. This represents a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of ** percent, indicating a significant upward trajectory in AI investment within the financial industry. AI investment across industries In 2023, the banking and retail sectors led in AI investments, with the banking sector accounting for **** billion U.S. dollars and the retail sector investing **** billion U.S. dollars. This demonstrates the varying degrees of AI adoption across different industries, with the financial sector poised for substantial growth over the coming years. These findings highlight the competitive landscape of AI investment and the potential for the financial sector to capitalize on AI technologies. Global corporate AI investment trends The global corporate investment in AI reached nearly ** billion U.S. dollars in 2022, marking a significant increase from previous years. Private investments played a substantial role in driving this growth, underscoring the increasing importance of AI development worldwide. This trend signifies a strong foundation for the expansion of AI technologies, with implications for the financial sector's investment landscape as it navigates the evolving AI market.

Most businesses in the financial services industry incorporated only moderately artificial intelligence (AI) in their operations or functions in 2021. Approximately ********* of the respondents declared to have fully incorporated artificial intelligences technologies in their business.

Financial services companies applied one particular strategy for the use of AI and machine learning more often than others in 2023. The primary strategy for the use of artificial intelligence and ML during the first quarter of 2023 was app development with cloud-based AI and ML services. ** percent of the financial services companies used this application regularly. Financial companies also regularly purchase apps with embedded machine learning.

In 2024, operational efficiencies remained the primary benefit of AI in financial services, though the impact showed signs of moderation. A 2024 survey revealed that ** percent of respondents reported improved operational efficiencies through AI, marking a decline from the previous year. Approximately one-third of companies noted that AI provided a competitive edge, while ** percent highlighted enhanced customer experience as a key advantage.

The banking sector's spending on generative artificial intelligence (AI) is projected to surge to ***** billion U.S. dollars by 2030, with a remarkable ***** percent compound annual growth rate. This astonishing growth reflects the increasing significance of AI in reshaping the banking industry's landscape, as it seeks to leverage AI-driven technologies to enhance customer experiences, optimize operations, and drive innovation. AI investment across industries The banking sector's substantial investment in AI is part of a broader trend of increasing AI adoption across industries. In 2023, the banking sector was one of the largest investors in AI, with **** billion U.S. dollars, signaling its proactive approach in embracing AI technologies. Moreover, the financial sector is poised for remarkable growth, with an estimated increase from ** billion U.S. dollars in 2023 to ** billion U.S. dollars in 2027, representing a significant upward trajectory in AI investment within the industry. Global corporate AI investment trends The surge in AI investment aligns with global trends, as corporate investment in AI reached nearly ** billion U.S. dollars in 2022. This substantial increase underscores the growing importance of AI development worldwide and sets a strong foundation for the expansion of AI technologies. As the banking sector continues to navigate the evolving AI market, these trends highlight the competitive landscape of AI investment and the potential for the sector to capitalize on AI technologies to drive future growth and innovation.

Generative AI experienced a massive expansion of use cases in financial services during 2024, with customer experience and engagement emerging as the dominant application. A 2024 survey revealed that ** percent of respondents prioritized this area, a dramatic increase from ** percent in the previous year. Report generation, investment research, and document processing also gained significant traction, with over ** percent of firms implementing these applications. Additional use cases included synthetic data generation, code assistance, software development, marketing and sales asset creation, and enterprise research.

In 2024, user support applications like chatbots emerged as the dominant use of generative AI within European banking, with over ** percent of AI-implementing banks deploying the technology in this area. However, artificial intelligence more broadly permeated the sector, with its most significant applications including client and transaction profiling and clustering, fraud detection, customer support, and monitoring of behavior and transactions.

Most financial services firms worldwide adopted artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to reduce operational costs in 2020. However, ** percent of the respondents located in North America predicted that the main benefit that AI will bring to their organization is an increased employee capacity to handle volume.

In 2024, security and data privacy concerns emerged as the leading challenges for banks adopting artificial intelligence. Almost ** percent of respondents identified security and data privacy as the primary AI obstacle in their businesses. Closely following this concern, ** percent of survey participants highlighted the lack of AI skills or expertise among the workforce as another critical impediment to AI implementation, and ** percent cited the difficulty in measuring return on investment.

Artificial intelligence (AI) could potentially lead to increased revenue in the banking sector across multiple business segments. The economic benefits of AI could likely benefit all banking segments, with the highest gains in the corporate and retail banking sectors. These segments could see an added value of *** and *** billion U.S. dollars, respectively, in case of successfully implemented AI use cases.

According to a survey conducted among Australians regarding their sentiments toward artificial intelligence (AI) in January 2025, the top AI use case to enhance customer experiences in financial services and equity that respondents felt comfortable with was fraud protection and detection. Around ** percent of those surveyed felt comfortable with AI being used to analyze a wide range of data for credit-scoring purposes.

Machine learning was the most commonly used artificial intelligence (AI) application among investment banks worldwide as of 2020. Predictive analytics and virtual assistant technologies followed, with ** and ** percent of the respondents respectively.

The generative AI market in finance is poised for significant growth, with projections indicating a surge from **** billion U.S. dollars in 2023 to over ** billion U.S. dollars by 2033. This remarkable expansion, driven by a compound annual growth rate of **** percent, underscores the increasing importance of AI technologies in the financial sector. As companies recognize the potential of generative AI to transform their operations, the industry is witnessing a rapid adoption of these innovative solutions. AI readiness and investment trends Financial institutions are actively preparing for the AI revolution, with some leading the pack in terms of readiness. Capital One topped the AI readiness index among major banks in the Americas and Europe, scoring ***** out of 100. This readiness is reflected in the broader financial sector's investment patterns, as the industry's AI spending is expected to grow from ** billion U.S. dollars in 2023 to ** billion U.S. dollars by 2027, representing a ** percent CAGR. The banking sector, in particular, has emerged as a front-runner in AI investments, allocating **** billion U.S. dollars in 2023 alone. Widening adoption and future outlook The finance sector is set to experience widespread AI adoption in the coming years. In 2022, nearly half of executives anticipated their companies would achieve widescale AI implementation by 2025. This trend aligns with the projected growth in generative AI market size, indicating a shift towards more critical and extensive AI applications in finance. As the industry continues to invest heavily in AI technologies, companies are positioning themselves to leverage these advancements for improved efficiency, customer service, and decision-making processes. The rapid expansion of the generative AI market in finance reflects the sector's commitment to embracing innovative technologies to maintain a competitive edge in an increasingly digital landscape.

As of 2021, almost half of surveyed professionals in the financial services industry were concerned about the threats to security and privacy posed by the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the industry. Further, loss of professional interaction or humanistic approach concerned ** percent of the respondents.

In 2024, data security was the leading concern for UK financial services organizations seeking to scale generative AI, with ** percent of survey respondents identifying it as their primary barrier. Organizations also cited regulatory uncertainty, accuracy concerns, and skills gaps as significant obstacles to adoption.