A FICO poll has found that 77% of senior banking leaders across Asia Pacific consider it extremely important for banks to use AI tools developed specifically for financial services rather than adapted from consumer applications.
The remaining 23% rated such specialisation as somewhat important.
“Financial institutions operate under regulatory scrutiny that most consumer technology companies don’t face,”
said Dattu Kompella, Managing Director, Asia Pacific, FICO.
“Banks need AI models that are explainable, auditable and designed from the ground up for compliance. Off-the-shelf consumer AI doesn’t meet that bar.”
Privacy and compliance remain key barriers
Banking leaders identified governance and regulatory concerns as bigger obstacles to AI adoption than technology or cost.
Data privacy and security topped the list, cited by 42% of respondents. Regulatory and compliance risks followed at 21%, alongside model transparency and explainability at the same percentage.
Only 16% identified computing costs or infrastructure as their main concern.
“The barriers aren’t about capability or price,”
said Kompella.
“Banks are concerned about trust, auditability and the ability to explain decisions to regulators.”
Fraud detection seen as top generative AI use case
More than 60% of respondents identified fraud and scam detection as the area where generative AI could deliver the greatest operational improvements over the next 12 months.
Underwriting decisions followed at 21%, customer-facing digital banking services at 15% and regulatory compliance monitoring at 3%.
FICO attributed this focus to the scale of scams across the region and the potential for AI-powered behavioural analytics to identify patterns human analysts might miss.
For back-office operations, 64% of respondents identified credit underwriting and lending decisions as the areas most likely to benefit from purpose-built AI.
Regulatory compliance monitoring followed at 18%, customer due diligence at 10% and internal policy and business operations reviews at 8%.
Banks anticipate wider AI adoption
About a quarter (26%) of respondents said their banks have already deployed task-specific AI models.
Another 46% expect such models to be deployed in fraud, compliance and underwriting operations within one to two years, while 26% anticipate adoption within three to five years.
According to FICO, the focus is shifting from whether banks should adopt purpose-built AI to how they can implement it.
Wider adoption will require investment in industry-specific models, better data infrastructure, faster integration with legacy systems and clearer governance frameworks.
FICO, which provides AI solutions to financial institutions, launched its own Focused Foundation Model for Financial Services in September 2025.
Featured image credit: Edited by Fintech News Singapore, based on image by marinademidiuk via Magnific
