UK businesses lagging on AI payments adoption

While the use of AI in payments management continues to grow, the UK is proving slower to adopt AI solutions than its European peers, with skills gaps and regulatory uncertainty slowing progress according to new research by Intrum.

Intrum’s European Payment Report, based on a survey of over 8,000 businesses in 20 markets, is produced by credit management firm Intrum. This year, it shows that 61% of UK businesses are using AI in payments, compared with an average of 66% across Europe.

The UK has not kept up with European acceleration in the use of these tools – this gap has grown since 2025, when 58% reported that they used AI in payments, compared with 59% across Europe.

Intrum UK MD Gavin Flynn said  “AI is no longer a theoretical benefit to payments management. At a time when many firms are struggling with late payments, these tools offer significant potential to reduce late payments and improve predictability.”

AI tools can be used at every stage of the payments cycle, generating invoices, resolving account queries and settling disputes. Predictive tools can also identify invoices that are likely to become overdue, allowing businesses to act early, while automated solutions offer tailored support to customers.

The report shows that 28% of businesses are using AI in payments and plan to increase their use, while 32% are awaiting results before deciding whether to adjust. Another 31% plan to use AI but have not yet managed to implement it, while nine per cent have no plans to invest in these solutions.

Those companies may be missing out on significant benefits: businesses that are using AI in payments say they are already saving £6.6 billion a year in labour costs, a fifth of the overall cost of chasing late and non-payment.

Knowledge and experience are significant barriers to firms using AI in payments, with 55% of UK businesses saying they lack the skills to get real value from AI. This figure has not improved in the last couple of years (2025: 53% and 2024: 55%). This may be leading to complacency, with only 48% of UK businesses believing they will fall behind competitors if they fail to implement AI tools in the back office.

Uncertainty over regulation is another limiting factor, with only 35% of businesses confident they understand European legislation coming in around AI.

Businesses may also be underestimating consumer appetite for these tools. Only 20% of firms believe customers are more honest with AI chatbots than human contacts when discussing their finances, but, in Intrum’s consumer research, 52% of UK consumers said they would be more likely to be open and honest with an AI tool.

Flynn concluded  “This gap between perception and reality means businesses could be missing opportunities to improve late payments, something that is a massive drag on growth and, in some cases, survival,. Our report shows that businesses are more focused on growth in 2026 than they have been for the last five years – to achieve that, they need to reduce the labour, cost and distraction of chasing customer payments.”