News from the Wire

TPA finds gap between firms’ AI inclusion confidence and reported practice

Wednesday, September 23, 2026 — 16:05:33 (UTC)

New research from The Payments Association reveals gap between firms’ AI inclusion confidence and reported practice

New Payments Association research reveals that a third of firms surveyed do not separately monitor outcomes for vulnerable customers, making it harder to prove AI-enabled services work for them.

LONDON, UK – 23 September 2026: A new report from The Payments Association, a trade group for the payments sector, assesses how prepared organisations are to deploy AI to support vulnerable customers.

AI inclusion readiness report 2026 draws on research from 110 senior decision-makers across financial services, retail and wholesale. It also considers findings from separate consumer research examining the experiences of customers with characteristics of vulnerability across the FCA’s four drivers: health, life events, resilience and capability.

The research finds high levels of reported AI inclusion readiness among firms, with an average score of 4.1 out of 5. In addition, 93 per cent of firms say AI has improved outcomes for vulnerable customers.

However, 35 per cent do not separately monitor outcomes for vulnerable customers, making it harder to show whether AI-enabled services deliver comparable outcomes for these customers.

Furthermore, additional consumer research released earlier this year from The Payments Association – How AI-powered Banking Tools are Failing Vulnerable Customers – reveals that 17 per cent of vulnerable consumers have been unable to complete a banking or payment task because a digital or AI-enabled tool did not work for them, compared with just 5 per cent of non-vulnerable consumers.

Those vulnerable customers surveyed have also identified the practical improvements that would make digital services work better for them, including greater control over online interactions and clearer pathways to support.

The research also shows that firms’ provision varies by vulnerability type. While 67 per cent report specific provision for older customers, this sharply falls to 34 per cent for customers experiencing recent adverse life events – for instance, bereavement, redundancy or illness

In light of these new findings, The Payments Association is calling on firms to strengthen how they design and monitor AI-enabled services for vulnerable customers, including measuring customer outcomes, designing for different forms of vulnerability and ensuring straightforward access to human support when needed.

The Payments Association’s Inclusion Working Group provides a forum for the industry to share experience and develop practical approaches to these challenges as AI and digital identity become more widely used across payments.

Emma Banymandhub, CEO of The Payments Association, said: "Ninety-three per cent of firms say AI has improved outcomes for vulnerable customers, yet around a third do not monitor these customers’ outcomes separately. That matters because firms need evidence to understand whether AI-enabled services are working effectively for different groups of customers.

“Better monitoring can help firms identify where customers are experiencing difficulties and improve the support available to them. The opportunity is to make sure AI works for as wide a range of customers as possible, with appropriate human support available when it is needed”

"The majority of financial services respondents (67%) tell us regulatory clarity is the biggest barrier to making AI-enabled journeys work for vulnerable groups. We see a similar challenge with digital identity; firms report high levels of technical readiness, but inclusive provision is less developed. Closing that gap should be a priority."

ENDS

About The Payments Association 

The Payments Association is a community for all companies in payments, whatever their size, capability, location or regulatory status. Its purpose is to empower the payments sector, so that the connections, collaboration and learning shape an industry that works for all. It works closely with industry stakeholders such as the Bank of England, the FCA, HM Treasury, the PSR, Pay.UK, UK Finance and Innovate Finance.

Through its comprehensive programme of activities and with guidance from an independent Advisory Board of leading payments experts, The Payments Association facilitates the connections that join the ecosystem together and make it stronger. These activities include a programme of digital and face-to-face events, including the annual PAY360 and FC360 conferences, The PAY360 Awards, PA@TheCity, CEO roundtables, workshops, webinars, and training activities.  

The Payments Association also runs eight stakeholder working groups covering Cross-border, Digital Currencies, ESG, Financial Crime, Financial Inclusion, Merchant Payments, Open Banking and Regulatory. The volunteers in these groups represent the industry and collaborate to ensure their driving issues are addressed effectively. TPA also publishes industry research and insights through Payments Intelligence, including reports, whitepapers, articles, podcasts, and video interviews. 

Notice to readers: These are archived articles. Contact information, links and other details may be out of date. We regret any inconvenience.

Source: Company press release.

Categories: Reports and research