Manx Financial Group plc (LON:MFX) has set out a clear strategy to use artificial intelligence across its specialist financial services platform, with the technology expected to support lending growth, improve efficiency and strengthen risk management.
The update follows the group’s AGM presentation, which described Manx Financial as having “resilient growth, strong foundations and building opportunity with AI”. The presentation placed technology enablement at the centre of the group’s next stage of development, particularly across lending, customer service, compliance and operational processes.
The group said artificial intelligence can be used to identify patterns, generate insights and support decision-making. In banking, this ranges from assistive tools that help employees work more effectively to AI agents carrying out defined tasks within controlled parameters.
For Manx Financial, the emphasis is on “human in the loop” AI agents. This approach allows the group to automate selected processes while keeping human oversight in areas such as underwriting, risk management, compliance and customer outcomes.
The AGM presentation identified several areas where AI could support the business, including growth and profitability, customer experience, efficiency, scale, lending, risk and compliance, decision-making and customer conversion. The company said AI has the potential to unlock new revenue, protect margins, reduce manual effort, improve consistency and accelerate loan processing.
This is particularly relevant given the group’s focus on specialist lending and underserved markets. Manx Financial said traditional banks continue to retrench, creating a long-term opportunity for alternative lenders to capture market share in structurally underserved areas.
Chief Executive Officer Douglas Grant made a similar point in his recent DirectorsTalk interview, noting that periods of economic uncertainty often lead larger banks to reduce credit availability. He said this can create opportunities for Manx Financial to reach customers and counterparties that may not normally be available to the group.
Grant also pointed to continued demand for short-term lending products as households and businesses look to manage cash flow during a difficult economic period. He said the group’s product suite, including buy now, pay later, overdraft products and premium finance, is positioned to meet that need.
Payment Assist remains a key example of that strategy. In the interview, Grant said Payment Assist’s 29% growth was product driven, with demand supported by customers needing to spread the cost of essential automotive repairs and maintenance. The AGM presentation also highlighted Payment Assist as the UK’s leading automotive repair point-of-sale finance provider, with 2025 advances of £219.7 million, up 28.9%, and a customer base of more than 1.5 million.
The group is also preparing for the launch of the Fiinu overdraft product, which Grant described as a short-term, mobile app-based lending product. He said the product fits the group’s focus on short-term finance and could be financially efficient from a net interest margin perspective.
This is where the AI strategy becomes more directly relevant. Faster decision-making, improved customer conversion, better underwriting support and more efficient onboarding could all support Manx Financial’s ability to scale its lending products without a matching increase in operating costs.
The AGM presentation specifically noted that AI can help scale the business without proportional cost growth. It also identified automation of repetitive work and reduced manual effort as key areas of potential benefit.
Risk and compliance are also central to the strategy. Manx Financial said AI can strengthen compliance monitoring and risk management, which is important for a group operating across banking, consumer credit and specialist finance.
The wider investment case presented by the group is based on differentiated distribution, product expansion, high-margin lending, exposure to underserved market segments, management execution and disciplined capital allocation. AI is now being positioned as a practical tool to support those existing growth levers.
Manx Financial’s 2025 results also provide a stronger base for the technology strategy. In the DirectorsTalk interview, Grant said the group achieved good balance sheet growth, with the net loan book increasing by 10% and deposits rising by 12%. He also noted that the group reduced its overall cost of deposits during the year, supported by its Isle of Man and UK banking licences.
That funding position matters because Manx Financial’s growth strategy depends on its ability to support lending demand while maintaining margin discipline. In 2025, the group increased net interest income by 14.3% to £37.5 million, while normalised basic earnings per share rose by 10% to 6.28 pence.
The group’s AI programme therefore sits alongside a broader strategy of expanding specialist lending, improving operational efficiency and targeting markets where traditional banks are less active.
