The third joint BoE/FCA survey, published 21 November 2024, found 75% of UK financial services firms already using AI and a further 10% planning to within three years, up from 58% and 14% in 2022. Foundation models made up 17% of all AI use cases, a third of use cases were third-party implementations, and the top three providers accounted for 73% of cloud, 44% of model and 33% of data providers. Only 2% of use cases were fully autonomous, and 46% of firms said they had only partial understanding of the AI they use.
| Document | 2024 BoE/FCA AI survey — Artificial intelligence in UK financial services – 2024 |
| Issued by | Bank of England, Prudential Regulation Authority, and Financial Conduct Authority |
| Type | Survey |
| Status | Final |
| Published | Nov 21, 2024 |
| Applies to | Voluntary survey of BoE- and FCA-regulated firms; no obligations |
| Supersedes | 2022 BoE/FCA ML survey |
| Official source | bankofengland.co.uk ↗ |
| Use cases | AI governance (general) · Third-party & vendor AI · Generative & agentic AI · AML / KYC · Fraud detection · Cybersecurity |
What are the key points of 2024 BoE/FCA AI survey?
- 75% of firms use AI; 10% more plan to within three years.
- Foundation models are 17% of all AI use cases.
- One third of use cases are third-party implementations (17% in 2022); top-three provider concentration of 73% (cloud), 44% (models), 33% (data).
- 55% of use cases involve some automated decision-making; 24% of those are semi-autonomous; 2% fully autonomous.
- 62% of use cases rated low materiality; 16% high materiality.
- 46% of firms report only partial understanding of their AI, mainly due to third-party models.
- Top current benefits: data and analytical insight, AML and fraud, cybersecurity; four of the top five risks are data-related; cybersecurity is the top perceived systemic risk.
- Largest perceived regulatory constraints: data protection and privacy, then resilience/cyber/third-party rules and the Consumer Duty; 84% of firms have an accountable person for AI.
What did 2024 BoE/FCA AI survey change for banks?
The 2024 survey documented the shift from bespoke ML to foundation models and vendor-supplied AI, and put concentration numbers on the third-party dependence that now drives the UK debate over designating AI and cloud providers as Critical Third Parties. It is the dataset the FPC used for its April 2025 financial-stability assessment.
What share of UK financial firms use AI according to the Bank of England?
75% of respondents to the 2024 BoE/FCA survey, with a further 10% planning to adopt within three years.
How concentrated is third-party AI provision in UK finance?
The 2024 survey found the top three providers accounted for 73% of reported cloud providers, 44% of model providers and 33% of data providers.
| Date | Document | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 11, 2022 | 2022 BoE/FCA ML survey — Machine learning in UK financial services (2022 survey) | Superseded |
| Jul 14, 2026 | HM Treasury Financial Services AI Adoption Plan (Jul 2026) — Financial Services AI Adoption Plan | Final |
| Jun 5, 2026 | 2026 BoE/FCA AI survey — The Bank of England and FCA's 2026 AI Survey | Final |
| May 15, 2026 | BoE/FCA/HMT joint statement on frontier AI and cyber resilience (May 2026) — The Bank, FCA and HM Treasury joint statement on Frontier AI models and cyber resilience | In force |
| Apr 1, 2026 | BoE response to Treasury Committee AI inquiry (Apr 2026) — Response to TSC inquiry report on AI in financial services | Final |
| Apr 1, 2026 | BoE/PRA plan for safe AI innovation (Apr 2026) — Letter from Sarah Breeden and Sam Woods to the Chancellor and Secretaries of State on enabling safe AI innovation | Final |
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