Londoners are the UK’s most frequent users of AI for personal finance but have the lowest confidence in using digital financial tools, according to research from Lloyds Banking Group.
The findings could have implications for the mortgage market, as households increasingly use digital tools to budget, manage debt, build savings and plan for future financial goals, including buying a home.
Lloyds’ analysis found that 49% of Londoners use AI for personal finance daily or weekly, while 76% had used it for financial purposes in the past year. However, only 75% of Londoners who use digital financial tools said they felt confident doing so, the lowest proportion of any UK region.
Londoners also reported the highest average savings after following AI-powered financial recommendations, at £562, compared with a UK average of £399. The figure was £276 in the East Midlands.
The research, Money mapped, forms part of Lloyds Banking Group’s Consumer Digital Index Spotlight series and examines how people across the UK use digital tools and AI to manage their finances.
Across the UK, 88% of digital financial tool users said they used them at least weekly to manage or track their finances, suggesting digital money management has become a routine part of household budgeting.
For prospective homebuyers, these tools could help with tracking spending, reducing debt and building savings towards a deposit. However, the research does not specifically measure mortgage applications, deposit accumulation or homeownership outcomes.
Regional differences point to varying financial priorities. Yorkshire and the Humber leads the UK for using digital tools to budget and track spending, at 44%, while the East Midlands has the highest proportion using them to reduce debt, at 24%.
In the North East, 57% of respondents identified day-to-day expenses as a leading financial priority, the highest proportion nationally.
Despite the reported benefits, the findings also point to challenges around confidence and trust in AI-generated financial recommendations.
In the West Midlands, 30% of respondents expressed concern about bias in AI recommendations, the highest proportion nationally.
Jas Singh, chief executive of consumer at Lloyds Banking Group, said financial empowerment varied according to individual circumstances and where people lived.
“Financial empowerment doesn’t look the same for everyone or in every region. And place can tell us a lot about the context in which financial choices are made,” he said.
“Managing your money online should feel underpinned by tools that can adapt to the life in front of you. The opportunity is to give people useful choices and tools, the confidence to act on them, and control over the financial lives people want to lead. To me, that is true financial empowerment.”
