Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential use of AI in bank payment systems to prevent fraud; and what steps they are taking to ensure that safeguards and consumer protections are effective for the deployment of AI in payment systems.

HM Treasury works closely with the UK financial regulators to monitor evolving risks from new technologies, and ensure that the opportunities AI presents can be realised in a safe and responsible way.

The government is engaging closely with the FCA on AI, and we support the approach the FCA is taking to encourage the safe adoption of AI in financial services. This includes several initiatives to support the safe adoption of AI, including the supercharged sandbox which enables firms to safely experiment with AI innovations.

The financial services sector has also been developing AI tools which can be used to detect and prevent fraud. These include HSBC’s pilot with Google to use AI to support financial crime detection. and Mastercard’s use of AI to identify and flag APP scams.