Money Box

We look at whether artificial intelligence is a help, or a hazard when it comes to helping you with your personal finances.
One in five adults in the UK - around 11 million people - are already open to the idea of using AI to manage their finances, according to the Financial Conduct Authority. But using AI to manage our money is not without risk. The FCA, the organisation tasked with keeping us financially safe, says that regulators are in an "arms race" to keep up with AI in financial services. We speak to the man behind its new report, Sheldon Mills.
And with the increase in AI useage likely to attract the scammers and the deepfakers, just how will regulation evolve to protect us?
Alongside presenter Ruth Alexander and taking listener questions is Simon Belshaw who is Chief Client Officer at the investment company Hargreaves Lansdown. And we hear from Elle Farrell-Kingsley, and advocate for AI ethics who has previously worked on artificial intelligence for one of the big tech companies.
Presenter: Ruth Alexander
Producer: Craig Henderson
Researchers: Niamh McDermott, Catherine Lund
Editor: Jess Quayle
Senior News Editor: Sara Wadeson
Pictured: Sheldon Mills, Financial Conduct Authority
(This edition was first broadcast on Wednesday July 8, 2026)

Parliament was asked this week to help tens of thousands of young adults get access to their own money. It is sitting in the state-backed Child Trust Funds set up more than 15 years ago with contributions from the government, parents and other relatives. However, because these young people have learning disabilities the legal process for getting hold of their own money can cost more than the couple of thousand pounds typically in their fund. What happens next?
New figures reveal that in a single year half a million people said 'no thanks' to joining a workplace pension. Like everyone taking up a new job they were automatically enrolled into a pension, but they opted out before it even began. How might that impact their future?
Capita has missed the deadline to return services to normal for civil servants facing long delays in getting their pensions sorted.
And, a major change to the Lifetime ISA could see it replaced with a new product designed solely for First Time Buyers. How will it work?
Presenter: Paul Lewis
Reporters: Dan Whitworth and Meghan Owen
Researcher: Catherine Lund
Editor: Jess Quayle
Senior News Editor: Sara Wadeson
(First broadcast 12pm Saturday 4th July 2026)

Buying a flat used to be a stepping stone to owning a house – but has this all changed?
Research is telling us that the gap in price between flats and houses has hit a 30 year high. According to the property platform Zoopla, so far this this year two-thirds of one and two-bedroom flats listed for sale still haven't been sold.
The leasehold system in England is being blamed, in large part, for the declining popularity of flats. There are concerns about the length of leases and the maintenance and service charges often involved when owning a flat. The Government is in the process of introducing new measures to deal with some of these issues.
So today we're asking - what does buying a flat mean for your finances? Maybe you live in one and love it! Perhaps your children do? Or are you struggling to sell and feeling a bit flattened?
Presenter Felicity Hannah puts listeners’ questions and concerns to an expert panel. Polly Gilbert is a director at the digital mortgage brokers Tembo, and Liam Spender is a trustee at the Leasehold Knowledge Partnership.
Presenter: Felicity Hannah
Producer: Craig Henderson
Editor: Jess Quayle
Senior News Editor: Sara Wadeson
(First broadcast 3pm Wednesday 1st July, 2026)

More than 15,000 people have responded to a Government review into access to banking services in just three weeks since it opened. The review comes after a decade which has seen almost 7,000 bank branches close, with hundreds more happening this year and some announced in just the past few days. Richard Lloyd, a former Director at the consumer group Which?, gives his first interview since being appointed to lead the review.
HMRC must "learn lessons" for the future after incorrectly suspending child benefit payments from thousands of claimants last year. That is the conclusion of a report published this week by the National Audit Office. The mistake happened during the wider roll out of a pilot scheme designed to cut some of the hundreds of millions of pounds estimated to be lost to fraud and error in child benefit claims each year.
People who are 66 today, born 27 June 1960, are the youngest people who will get the Winter Fuel Payment this year. Normally the qualifying date is three months later. How does the payment work?
And, VAT has been cut on summer attractions used by children - from theme parks to fast food - what kind of discounts are there?
Presenter: Paul Lewis
Reporters: Sarah Rogers and Jo Krasner
Researcher: Catherine Lund
Editor: Jess Quayle
Senior News Editor: Sara Wadeson
(First broadcast at midday on Saturday 27th June, 2026)

We’ve seen a big fall in the number of bank branches over the last decade. Around 6,700 bank and building society branches have closed since the beginning of 2015, according to Which? With more due to close this month.
Now the government is carrying out a review following concerns about the reduced access to face-to-face banking, and how this affects banking customers both in towns and in rural areas across the UK.
In this special programme Money Box Live asks what IS the future for banking and what do these changes mean for you? Will online banking ultimately be the end of banking face-to-face – or will there always be some form of bank to pop into?
Presenter Felicity Hannah is joined by Charles Randell, former chief of the regulator the Financial Conduct Authority and a member of the Financial Exclusion Commission, and Gareth Oakley, the CEO of Cash Access UK, to answer your questions.
Presenter: Felicity Hannah
Producer: Craig Henderson
Editor: Jess Quayle
Senior news editor: Sara Wadeson
(First broadcast at 3pm on Wednesday 24th June, 2026)