Skip to content

News

Brace for the ‘techlash’ says FCA chief as he warns on future of financial services

FCA
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn

The chief of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has said the UK’s financial services may need to prepare for a “techlash” as big tech threatens to damage financial inclusion and security of data and services.

In a speech on 23rd January, Nikhil Rathi warned that “new forms of fraud and harms” created by technologies like quantum computing and artificial intelligence (AI) could jeopardise the security of digital identities and overall trust in tech.

“We may have to brace ourselves for the Techlash,” Rathi said.

Envisaging this potential scenario, he said tech and banking heavyweights could “gobble up the competition”. The lines between gaming, gambling, entertainment, trading and investing could “become so blurred as to endanger people’s long term financial wellbeing,” he added.

It comes as cyber fraud, cyber attacks and identity fraud are accelerating rapidly in scale and sophistication, with a rally in the cybersecurity market expected as a result.

Rathi said big tech’s foray into financial services could benefit many in the short term. “But in the longer term, there was a risk that the competition benefits could be eroded if the firms exploited their entrenched market power,” he explained.

Rathi added to “expect more deployment of our criminal powers in the year ahead” as the FCA looks to deter those causing consumer and market harm.

In July last year, the FCA’s flagship Consumer Duty regulation came into force, which also applies to consumer technology in financial services.

 

Source: City AM

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn

Related Posts

FCA CEO letter

The FCA’s latest ‘Dear CEO’ letter – Key priorities for payments firms

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has issued a new ‘Dear CEO’ letter (dated 3rd February 2025) outlining its priorities for firms within the payments sector. This follows the previous letter
Read More >
FCA

The FCA’s new portal for simplified access and reporting

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is set to launch My FCA in spring 2025, a new online portal designed to streamline regulatory reporting and access for firms. This initiative is
Read More >