In conversation with... George Rhodes

What was your journey to your role today, would you say it’s been a typical career path?

Like most of my peers, I sort of fell in to the fraud world a few months after finishing my Criminology degree. I was keen to start a career in something that was at least loosely tied to my career, which is how I stumbled across a Financial Crime Officer role at a regional building society here in the North East. From there, I fell in love with the industry, including the mission of what we’re all trying to do - catch the bad guys, and stop the illicit money flows that damage our economy and society.

If you weren’t working in credit and financial services, what would you be doing?

I like to keep quite active, so I’d hope it would be something sports related! I played rugby to a decent level in my youth, but suffered a few injuries which meant I couldn’t continue (appreciating that’s the story of most failed sports people!)

What is the most significant challenge facing the credit/financial services industry today?

Unsurprisingly, for me it’s fraud. In the UK today, while only around 50% of the population have active credit products, 100% of the population can be a victim - everyone and anyone can be targeted by financial criminals. What’s made it even more difficult in recent years has been the advent of online, digital journeys, and more recently AI, which has exploded fraud rates across a number of typologies, sectors and industries. What we’re seeing now is the exploitation of the environment that these factors have created, where fraudsters can now move undetected, at pace, at scale, and at a higher level of sophistication than they could previously.

What trend or development are you excited about in the credit / financial services sector?

AI and the value it could bring to operations & strategy teams fighting the battle against fraud. I think we’re now thankfully past the point of assuming that AI can replace a human fraud analyst/ investigator, where many firms seem to be leaning in to ’Co-pilot-type’ strategies of working with AI to make themselves more efficient and dynamic in how they respond to fraud cases. Fraud has always been an arms race, where fraudsters are usually the first to recognise how new technologies can be used accelerate their activity - we need to ensure we are equally equipped to respond.

What do you hope to take away from Credit Week 2026?

New connections, new ideas and a bucket load of inspiration. Events like these are gold-dust, where professionals across functions, sectors and industries can come together to help solve for the most prominent challenges we are facing.

What advice would you give to someone who’s starting their career in the industry?

Lean in - to internal meetings, to broader community events, to asking questions. If you can say ’yes’ to as many opportunities as possible, you will accelerate your development.

Join George at Credit Week 2026!