Britons embrace AI and splurge on Skims in 2025, bank data shows
Britons leaned into the artificial intelligence (AI) boom in 2025, embraced Kim Kardashianโs shapewear brand Skims, and kept second-hand shopping prospering, new data shows.
Yearly spending data from digital bank Monzo sheds light on the shopping trends of its more than 14 million customers.
It highlights a concerted shift towards AI this year with spending on platforms like OpenAI more than doubling from ยฃ8 million in 2024 to ยฃ19 million in 2025.
Spending per person surged by 85% compared with the previous year.
OpenAI owns AI chatbot ChatGPT, which offers paid-for plans for people and businesses who want access to more advanced technology.
Theย service was launched three years ago and helped spark global interest in using generative AI technology for day-to-day tasks.
Elsewhere, Monzoโs data revealed that the second-hand shopping boom showed no signs of slowing down this year.
Its customers spent ยฃ210 million on resale platforms like Vinted and Depop over 2025, 13% more than 2024, as shoppers continued to track down deals on items like clothing and homeware.
But that did not stop people from shopping new at fast-growing brands like Skims, where spending reached over ยฃ1.8 million during the year.
The bank recorded a spike in May, double that of April, coinciding with the launch of a bra with a built-in nipple piercing design, helping drive sales for the shapewear label.
Kardashianโs kin Kylie Jenner also swept up ยฃ55,000 from Monzo customers spending on her beauty brand Kylie Cosmetics during 2025, while fellow US star Hailey Bieberโs beauty brand Rhode raked in ยฃ736,000.
When it comes to grocery spending, Tesco claimed the top spot with customers spending around ยฃ1.7 billion at the UKโs biggest supermarket.
This wasย nearly double the ยฃ930 million that shoppers spent at the number two supermarket, Sainsburyโs.
The data also revealed travel trends with customers spending ยฃ10 million on bike rental firm Lime between June and September.
And Londoners embraced Halloween with the day seeing one of the biggest spikes for Transport for London in 2025.
AJ Coyne, vice president for marketing at Monzo, said: โThis was a year of cultural moments defining peopleโs spending habits.
โWhether they were shopping for viral must-have products, embracing โ90s Britpop nostalgia or living life on two wheels, weโve seen every trend unfold in real time in the Monzo app.โ
The decade-old bank, which is the seventh largest in the UK by customer numbers, launches its โYear in Monzoโ feature for customers on Monday.
Similar to the popular Spotify Wrapped campaign, it gives customers of the bank insights into their personal spending habits.
