From accountancy to anti-fraud measures, the various technologies that exist under the FinTech umbrella have always deployed the latest innovations. When it comes to the application of artificial intelligence (AI) in finance, startups are proving to be every bit as important as the tech giants that dominate the AI space. In Europe, startups up and down the continent are turning to Big Data and machine learning techniques to answer challenges as diverse as the FinTech ecosystem itself. With the global market for AI in FinTech expected to be worth $54 billion by 2032, PYMNTS looks at five European startups that are paving the way. In the realm of accounting software, machine learning is used to automate routine data entry and analysis.

With each passing year, the fintech sector is providing faster, flexible and secured consumer experience, and is protecting against the risks and vulnerabilities of traditional insurance and loans. In fact, the global fintech market size is expected to grow to $124.3 billion by the end of 2025 at a CAGR of 23.8%. With a vision of providing small and medium-sized growth companies with debt finance, along with aiding them in competing against the large corporations, UK-based OakNorth is utilising artificial intelligence and machine learning to fulfil the dream. Since its inception, OakNorth has secured over $1 billion from leading investors which has been used to launch lending operations and others such. After meeting each other at college in the year 2002, Khosla and Perlman decided to launch their own business that could solve the challenges they had to face in securing debt finance from high street banks during their previous business -- Copal Amba which scaled to 3,000 employees and was later acquired by Moody's Corporation in 2014.

The world's most powerful person used to be Vladimir Putin. This year he was defeated by the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, according to the Forbes ranking of powerful people who make you question what you've been doing with your life so far. It's safe to say that Mr. Putin knows plenty about power, and he believes that advances in artificial intelligence (AI) will not only change the world as we know it, but the global balance of power as well. It looks like other world leaders agree, with China and the US fighting for AI supremacy and the EU scrambling to catch up. Real growth is fueled by cold hard cash, so we've put together a list of the 10 biggest artificial intelligence startups in the world by funding.

Over the next few years, AI will bring about game-changing developments for the banking sector, reports Scott Thompson. "I do not see AI technologies currently adding significant competitive advantages to banks – challenger or traditional," says Devie Mohan, co-founder and CEO of fintech research company, Burnmark. "There are very few data points of AI use cases in banks to come to a steady conclusion." Mohan's note of caution is refreshing in a technology realm defined by hype, and by inflated expectations of AI's ability to transform entire sectors, such as banking. However, over the next five years the majority of banks will adopt AI.