JPMorgan Chase has maintained its position as the world’s most AI-advanced bank, according to the 2025 Evident AI Index, which benchmarks the artificial intelligence maturity of 50 global financial institutions.
The US banking giant, led by CEO Jamie Dimon, retained the top spot for the third consecutive year, ranking first in three of four AI capability pillars — Innovation, Leadership and Transparency. Fellow US lender Capital One placed second, continuing to lead the field in AI Talent, while Royal Bank of Canada ranked third.
The index, produced annually by Evident, evaluates banks’ AI performance using more than 70 indicators drawn from millions of data points. Its findings show that the top 10 banks are improving their AI maturity 2.3 times faster year-on-year than the rest of the field, as early investments begin to generate tangible financial returns.
According to Evident, banks are increasingly seeing measurable results from AI integration across operations, risk management and customer services. Eight major lenders now report group-level ROI estimates for their AI portfolios — though no UK banks have yet made such disclosures.
JPMorgan Chase, which leads globally in AI deployment, recently raised its projection of annual AI-driven benefits to “heading towards $2 billion”, up from $1 billion last year.
Alexandra Mousavizadeh, co-founder and CEO of Evident, said banking was “one of the most advanced and competitive industries on the planet” when it comes to AI implementation.
“We’re beginning to see clear signs that AI investment is starting to translate into tangible financial gains,” Mousavizadeh said. “The banks in our top 10 are in pole position to see their efforts come to fruition.”
The global top 10 banks for AI maturity
According to Evident’s 2025 rankings, the leading banks for AI adoption are:
Rank Bank Change (vs 2024)
1 JPMorgan Chase –
2 Capital One –
3 Royal Bank of Canada –
4 Commonwealth Bank of Australia +1
5 Morgan Stanley +5
6 Wells Fargo -2
7 UBS -1
8 HSBC -1
9 Goldman Sachs +2
10 Bank of America +5
The index shows an increasing dominance of US-headquartered institutions, though Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), UBS, and HSBC remain the top performers in their respective domestic markets.
UK banks climb the rankings but lag on AI talent
The UK’s five major banks showed a strong overall performance in 2025, with four out of five ranking in the top half of the index and three advancing their position from last year. However, no UK bank placed in the global top 10 for AI talent, highlighting a continued skills gap.
HSBC retained its status as the UK’s top-performing bank, ranking eighth overall. Despite minor declines in the leadership and transparency pillars, it recorded gains in innovation and talent.
Lloyds Banking Group delivered the most dramatic improvement of any British bank, climbing 12 places to 15th, driven by major advances across all four AI capability pillars. The bank has established a centralised AI team, accelerated AI hiring, and launched large-scale projects including Athena, its first generative AI platform, and a patented Global Correlation Engine for cybersecurity, which has reduced false positives by 92%.
Mousavizadeh said Lloyds’ rise reflected “a significant mindset shift,” with the bank now “sharing more details of its active use cases and long-term plans.”
The number of banks publicly disclosing AI use cases has doubled in the past year, rising from 12 to 25 institutions. A total of 32 banks have now reported at least one AI use case with a measurable financial or operational impact.
Annabel Ayles, co-founder and co-CEO of Evident, said 2025 would likely mark the inflection point for measurable returns: “All banks — regardless of size — are increasing their AI budgets, and our data shows virtually every key metric of AI adoption rising,” Ayles said. “Banking leaders expect to see reportable AI returns in the next 12 to 18 months. The question now is: how big will they be?”
While nearly every bank in the index improved its AI performance, Evident warns of growing “bifurcation in AI maturity” between leaders and laggards. Banks that fail to keep pace risk losing credibility with boards, investors and regulators, and may struggle to attract top AI talent — creating a “compounding disadvantage” in deployment and innovation.
The top 10 banks are now setting the pace for the rest of the sector, as their early AI investments begin translating into efficiency gains, risk reduction and new revenue streams.
