AI agents and bank accounts: US lenders race to curb the risk

AI agents are forcing US banks to decide who is responsible when software moves a customer’s money.

Axios reported on Friday that Morgan Stanley and Bank of America are racing to contain the risks from unvetted third-party agents that can reach customer accounts, according to a digest by The Neuron. The core problem is attribution. Banks must know whether an action reflects the customer’s instruction or an agent acting beyond it.

How banks are blocking AI agents

The Financial Times reported on 17 October, via DigitalToday, that Citigroup blocks third-party agents from logging in or trading on its digital platforms. Bank of America limits agents’ access to deposits. Chief executive Brian Moynihan said the limits stay until a process exists to decide who is responsible for AI-approved payments.

JPMorgan blocks external agents, including Meta’s Muse and Instinct. Jamie Dimon said on the third-quarter earnings call that the risk is too high for customers and the bank. JPMorgan says customers are responsible if they give login details to an agent that acts against their wishes.

Why deposits are at stake

Money is part of the worry. Apollo’s chief economist Torsten Slok warned that assistants could move household cash from accounts paying about 0.1 percent to accounts paying 3.3 to 5 percent. Non-interest-bearing deposits at JPMorgan, Bank of America and Wells Fargo total $1.6 trillion. Paying 3 percent on that would cost $47 billion a year. That is close to half the three banks’ combined annual profits.

Security is the other worry. The Neuron digest also notes that Microsoft says a China-linked actor, Storm-0940, used an agentic penetration-testing system called ARTEX in a ConnectWise compromise. Separately, 1Password is building a product for agents with Anthropic and OpenAI. It would give agents credentials through 1Password’s own security system.

The rules are still being written. Banks say no settled process yet exists for assigning blame when an agent pays. Until one does, expect more blocks and more fine print for customers.

The money side of the AI boom is also under strain. Read our report on AI debt worries on Wall Street.

Fact basis: The Neuron digest of Axios, Microsoft and other reports (23 October 2026); Financial Times reporting via DigitalToday (17 October 2026). Bank statements are as reported by those outlets.