US banks limit AI agents’ access to customer accounts – report

Citigroup and Bank of America are restricting AI agents from accessing customer accounts, joining JPMorgan Chase and Charles Schwab in tightening controls over automated financial tools, reported the Financial Times.

Banks fear agents will drain deposits by shifting idle cash to higher returns, the report noted.

Citi does not permit “third-party AI agents or assistants to log into a customer’s account or transact directly within our digital banking platforms”.

The restriction was intended to protect customer accounts and information.

Bank of America is limiting AI agents’ access to consumer deposits, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Chief executive Brian Moynihan said the bank was developing protocols to determine which party would be liable for payments authorised by AI.

“We strongly believe there should be a human in the loop to authorise money moving out of your account,” Moynihan told CNBC.

According to sources, Wall Street executives have contacted Federal Reserve regulators about the growing use of AI agents for financial transactions.

Regulators have privately supported banks’ decisions to block AI agents from client accounts, the news publication added.

Officials believe the law may need to clarify how customers authorise autonomous technology to act on their behalf, and who is liable if a transaction fails or causes a loss.

JPMorgan Chase chief executive Jamie Dimon said this week that the bank would limit AI agents’ access to client accounts “because you don’t want rogue agents and there could be thousands of them”.

“We have to make sure we protect our customers in the right way. So, we’re building tools to do that, too,” Dimon said on the bank’s third-quarter results call.

Charles Schwab chief executive Rick Wurster told Bloomberg that the brokerage, wealth-management, and banking company was blocking unauthorised AI agents attempting to transfer clients’ money, including Meta Platforms’ Muse.