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\t\tAI could put bankers on the chopping block.\t<\/p>\n\t\t\tWednesday 27 August 2025 5:30 am
\n\t\t\t\t\t\u00a0|\u00a0\u00a0Updated:\u00a0<\/p>\n
\t\t\tWednesday 27 August 2025 10:18 am\n\t<\/p>\n
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\t\tAI could put bankers on the chopping block.\t<\/p>\n
Bankers across the UK could be on the chopping block as the industry<\/a> piles billions into AI.<\/p>\n The push into the modern tech<\/a> will put some 27,000 roles at risk \u2013 representing ten per cent of the UK banking sector\u2019s workforce.\u00a0<\/p>\n By 2030, banks across the country will have piled over \u00a31.8bn into generative AI by 2030, fresh data shared with City AM has revealed.<\/p>\n The bullish gen AI plans are set to result in \u201cproductivity gains\u201d across the industry, with around 50 per cent of cost-savings coming from back office functions. Near 82 per cent of work hour reductions are set to come from back office and administrative tasks.<\/p>\n The findings, from Juniper Research and Zopa Bank, unveiled banks will cut 178m work hours over the next five years.<\/p>\n The research suggests gen AI developments would equate to 100 per cent return on investment with \u00a31.8bn saved by 2030.\u00a0<\/p>\n Britain\u2019s Big Four banking giants<\/a> \u2013 HSBC, Natwest, Barclays and Lloyds \u2013 have beefed up their AI artillery in the last year as the firms continue to face off in a tech arms race.<\/p>\n Lloyds<\/a> began its AI expansion last year, with the flagship announcement of its \u2018AI Centre for Excellence\u2019 headed up by former Amazon executive Rohit Dhawan. Meanwhile, Natwest joined forces with OpenAI <\/a>to focus on \u201cbank-wide simplification\u201d.<\/p>\n The pressure has intensified as tech-savvy challengers entered the scene leveraging their abilities to streamline operations.<\/p>\n Zopa kicks off major AI push<\/p>\n Digital bank Zopa has ramped up its AI plans on the back of the new findings.\u00a0<\/p>\n The fintech has launched a five-year campaign \u2013 dubbed Jobs 2030<\/a> \u2013 with the aim to reskill 100,000 banking workers in AI disciplines by 2030.<\/p>\n The campaign will include \u201cindustry-aligned training tailored specifically to the UK banking sector\u201d, a gen AI Engineering Programme and later the creation of Zopa Coding Academy.<\/p>\n Clare Gambardella, chief customer officer at Zopa Bank, told City AM the fintech would pull from across the industry to meet the \u201csteep number\u201d.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tRead more<\/p>\n \t\t\tHere are five British tech startups to look out for<\/a><\/p>\n She added \u201cseveral fintechs\u201d were dealing with \u201cthe same kind of opportunities or challenges\u201d in regards to AI and the campaign would leverage abilities across the sector.<\/p>\n It follows Zopa and fintech peer Clearscore smashing their \u201c25 million actions\u201d target to help UK consumers<\/a> better their financial resilience in a cost-of-living campaign earlier this year.<\/p>\n Gambardella said the AI campaign would echo the collaborative aspect of Zopa\u2019s personal finance mission through allowing firms to lead education opportunities in their area of expertise.<\/p>\n The mission follows FTSE 100 banking titan Lloyds sending a fleet of its bankers to Cambridge University for \u201cAI bootcamp\u201d earlier this year as the industry races to get ahead of the curve.<\/p>\n AI shakes job market<\/p>\n Gambardella said there would be \u201ca potential risk\u201d of job cuts across the banking industry but added the \u201creasonably lean\u201d element of fintechs could mitigate this.<\/p>\n She added the fintech sector had a \u201cself select bias\u201d due to workers naturally being a \u201ccongruent fit\u201d for AI developments.\u00a0<\/p>\n UK banks\u2019 integration of AI is set to happen \u201cregardless\u201d, Gambardella said, but added Zopa\u2019s campaign would help \u201cput employees on the front foot\u201d.<\/p>\n It comes after research from The Banker in July revealed British banks were shedding workers at the fastest pace since 2019<\/a><\/p>\n Beyond financial services, the wider labour market has been shaken by the AI revolution.<\/p>\n Vacancies for graduate roles, apprenticeships, internships, and junior positions have decreased by more than 30 per cent since ChatGPT<\/a> emerged at the end of 2022, research from Adzuna revealed earlier this year.<\/p>\n The impact has taken advertised vacancies for graduates to their lowest level since July 2020 \u2013 when the British economy was battling the pandemic.<\/p>\n The Big Four accountancy firms \u2013 KPMG, Deloitte, EY and PwC \u2013 have all stripped back early-career hiring<\/a> over the last two years, slashing intake by as much as 29 per cent as they honed in on AI.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tRead more<\/p>\n