TL;DR

HSBC has dropped from eighth to 11th in the 2026 Evident AI Index, which was released on Tuesday 6 October and ranks 50 large banks from three regions: North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific. That leaves Switzerland’s UBS, up one place to sixth, as the sole European lender in the top ten. JPMorgan Chase stretched its lead at number one.

Where the UK banks sit

Evident, a firm that follows how banks take up AI, compiles the ranking solely from public information. It scores four pillars. AI talent carries the most weight; the others are innovation, which takes in patents and research, how much attention leaders give AI, and how openly a bank reports on using it responsibly.

Beyond HSBC, the British lenders all fall in the second ten, a band Euronews says European banks dominate. Lloyds Banking Group held 15th, NatWest was 17th, one place lower than last year according to Evident’s own table, and Barclays climbed four spots to 19th.

Behind JPMorgan, the next three places went to Capital One of the US, Royal Bank of Canada and CommBank of Australia. North America supplied eight of the top ten: six from the US and two from Canada.

Faster progress, and a return on it

According to Evident, bank AI capability grew at close to three times the average rate of the prior three years, its fastest rise since the first index in 2023. Between them, the 50 banks have made public over 1,100 separate AI applications since 2021.

The count of banks putting a number on their AI returns, whether achieved or forecast, is up from eight to 12. Lloyds is among the newcomers. It said in January that its generative AI work was worth around £50 million last year, with more than £100 million expected in 2026.

Evident also disputed the view that AI will strip banks of their staff, saying the leaders are still adding staff. The timing is awkward for HSBC. A day after the index came out, the FT reported that HSBC intends deep cuts to its UK wealth adviser ranks as AI spreads through the business.

Looking forward

Evident will introduce a fifth scoring area in 2027 that measures the outcomes banks actually get from AI. For UK lenders, that would move the contest from capability to results. In our view, banks that already publish a figure for the value AI creates, as Lloyds does, will start that pillar with an advantage over those that do not.