FinTech Futures
What the FinTech? | S.7 Episode 19 | Reimagining payment infrastructure for the AI era
In this episode of the What the FinTech? podcast, host and FinTech Futures Managing Editor Paul Hindle is joined by David Crawford, Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer at Pay.UK, to explore how AI is revolutionising payment infrastructure and what this technological shift means for the UK's critical national payment systems. David discusses the current state of the UK payments ecosystem, examining the most significant developments taking place and the forces driving change across the national payments infrastructure that Pay.UK operates. The conversation then examines how AI is being integrated into these essential payment systems today, what AI-ready infrastructure means in practice, and the foundational building blocks organisations need to successfully deploy AI while maintaining the reliability and trust that payment systems demand. Paul and David also explore the emerging challenges that come with AI-driven payments, from accountability and explainability to operational resilience and fraud prevention, particularly as criminals leverage AI for increasingly sophisticated attacks, and how Pay.UK is using AI to help combat these threats. The episode finishes with a look ahead to the future of the UK payments ecosystem, with David discussing how industry participants can work together to build AI literacy and ensure the UK remains at the forefront of global payments innovation. Tune in to hear how AI is transforming the backbone of UK payments and what it takes to build trusted, resilient infrastructure for the next generation of digital transactions.
