On 6 July 2026 the Financial Conduct Authority published the Mills Review, the first review by any financial regulator in the world of what artificial intelligence will do to everyday financial services. Led by the FCA’s executive director Sheldon Mills, it looks ahead to 2030 and concludes that AI will change how you bank, borrow, invest and get help with money. It also finds that roughly 1 in 5 UK adults, about 11 million people, are already open to letting AI make financial decisions on their behalf. This guide covers what the review found, what “agentic finance” means for ordinary savers and investors, and the seven things the FCA says it now needs to do.
In short
- The FCA published the Mills Review on 6 July 2026, the first review of its kind by any global regulator.
- It identifies four shifts AI is bringing to retail finance: how firms operate, how you deal with them, who holds market power, and how fraud works.
- About 11 million UK adults (1 in 5) are open to AI agents acting on their money within limits they set.
- It makes seven recommendations and leans towards adapting existing rules rather than writing a separate AI rulebook.
- Nothing changes for you today. This sets the direction for how AI in finance will be regulated up to 2030.
What is the Mills Review?
The Mills Review is a forward-looking study, commissioned by the FCA and led by executive director Sheldon Mills, of how artificial intelligence is likely to reshape retail financial services: the banking, saving, borrowing, investing, insurance and financial-help products ordinary consumers use. The FCA describes it as the first review of its kind by any regulator globally. Rather than reacting to a single product, it takes a view out to 2030 and asks what the FCA should be doing now to keep people protected as AI spreads through the industry.
Sheldon Mills summed up the starting point plainly: “Artificial intelligence will transform financial services by 2030. It creates significant opportunities for consumers, firms and the wider economy.” The review frames the change as a move from human-led towards AI-enabled, continuous and delegated services. In that world, AI does not just assist behind the scenes. It can begin to recommend actions, start transactions and carry out decisions within limits agreed in advance.
The four shifts AI is bringing to your money
The review groups the change into four shifts. Together they describe an industry where more of what happens to your money is decided, or at least shaped, by software.
- Transformed firm operations. Behind the scenes, banks, insurers and investment firms already use AI for pricing, underwriting, servicing and fraud checks. That can mean faster, cheaper service. It can also mean more automated decisions about who is offered what, and on what terms.
- Evolving consumer journeys. How you find, choose and use financial products is changing: AI chat assistants and smarter guidance tools first, then, in time, agents that can act for you.
- Reshaped competition and market power. AI could concentrate advantage among the firms with the best models and the most data, changing who competes for your custom and how.
- Amplified fraud and cyber risk. The same tools that help firms also help criminals: convincing deepfakes, cloned voices, scams automated at scale. The review is explicit that AI raises the fraud threat, not just the efficiency of legitimate firms.
What is “agentic finance”? AI agents managing your money
The phrase the review keeps returning to is agentic finance. An “agentic” AI is software that can act on its own within goals you set, rather than simply answering a question. For your money, that might mean an agent you allow to move savings to a better-paying account, rebalance your investments or switch provider when a deal changes, all inside limits you have agreed.
The headline consumer finding: the appetite already exists. FCA-commissioned research found that around 1 in 5 UK adults, roughly 11 million people, are open to AI making financial decisions for them. The opportunity is real, particularly for people who never get round to switching or reviewing their finances. So are the questions. Who is responsible when an agent gets it wrong? How do you give and withdraw consent? How does a firm make sure an automated decision actually suits you? Much of the review is about making sure those questions have answers before agents become common.
The Mills Review’s seven recommendations
The review sets out seven priority recommendations for the FCA. In plain English, they are:
- Secure and adapt the regulatory perimeter. Make sure AI-driven services that affect consumers fall inside regulation rather than slipping through the gaps.
- Strengthen system-wide coordination and oversight. Join up with other regulators and bodies, because AI cuts across the whole financial system.
- Monitor the transition to autonomous models and adapt frameworks. Watch the shift towards AI that acts on its own, and adjust the rules as it happens rather than after the fact.
- Scale up the FCA’s AI Lab. Grow the regulator’s in-house capacity to test, understand and safely support AI in financial services.
- Enable the foundations for agentic finance. Lay the groundwork, from standards to infrastructure, so AI agents can operate safely on consumers’ behalf.
- Build and adopt an AI-enabled supervisory model. Use AI in the FCA’s own supervision so the regulator can keep pace with an AI-driven industry.
- Develop a trusted, public-interest AI financial-capability service. Back a trusted, public-interest AI tool that helps people make better financial decisions.
Adapt, not replace: how the FCA plans to regulate AI
One signal matters for consumers and firms alike: the review leans towards adapting the FCA’s existing, outcomes-based framework rather than writing a separate AI rulebook. Its first recommendation is to adapt the regulatory perimeter, not build a new one from scratch. In practice, the protections you already rely on (the Consumer Duty’s requirement to treat customers fairly, the right to complain, access to the Financial Ombudsman Service) are meant to be the starting point, extended to cover AI rather than replaced by a separate regime. The full detail sits in the review document; the direction of travel is evolution of the current rules, not a clean break.
What the Mills Review means for you
- Nothing changes today. The review sets direction; it does not change any rules. There is nothing you need to do in response.
- Expect AI in more places. Fraud checks, chat assistants and guidance nudges will show up across banking, saving and investing, with agents that can act for you further down the line.
- Take the fraud warning seriously. The review is clear that AI makes scams cheaper and more convincing, so the scepticism you apply to an unexpected call, message or email matters more than ever.
- If an AI tool ever acts on your money, ask three things: who is accountable if it gets it wrong, how you give and withdraw permission, and how you complain. A tool that cannot answer all three clearly is one to treat with caution.
Common questions about the Mills Review
- Does this change any rules right now? No. The Mills Review sets the direction to 2030; no new rules take effect from it today.
- Will an AI really manage my money? Increasingly it can, within limits you set, and the review found about 1 in 5 UK adults open to it. Whether you use one stays your choice.
- Is my money less safe because of AI? The FCA flags that AI makes fraud easier and more convincing, which is why staying alert to scams matters more. Your existing protections, such as FSCS cover and the Financial Ombudsman, still apply.
- Who regulates AI financial advice? The FCA, using its existing framework adapted for AI, rather than a separate AI regulator.
- What exactly is “agentic finance”? Financial services in which AI can act on your behalf, not just advise, within parameters you have agreed in advance.
Savvy Investor’s take
The Mills Review is a signpost, not a rulebook, and the useful part for an ordinary saver is not the regulatory plumbing but two plain messages. AI is moving into the middle of your financial life, and the same technology that promises to shop around on your behalf is already being used to defraud people. Treat AI money tools as you would any new adviser: potentially useful, but worth checking who stands behind them and what happens when something goes wrong.
Sources
- FCA – Landmark review into the impact of AI in retail financial services (Mills Review), 6 July 2026 (primary)
- FCA – The Mills Review (corporate document, recommendations and findings) (primary)
- Savvy Investor Guide: FCA targeted support for savers, spotting a financial promotion that breaks FCA rules.
This article is for general information only and is not personalised financial advice. It summarises the FCA’s Mills Review as published on 6 July 2026; the review sets direction rather than changing rules, and the detail may develop as the FCA acts on its recommendations. Always check the FCA’s own materials, and consider regulated advice for decisions about your own circumstances. Fact-checked 7 July 2026.