Author: Zhang Yaqi, Wall Street Insights
Citigroup, Bank of America, and JPMorgan Chase have all announced restrictions on AI-powered agents accessing customer accounts. Behind this collective defensive action lies the banking industry's deep anxiety that trillions of dollars in low-cost deposits could be "swept away" by AI.
Citibank explicitly stated that it will not allow "third-party AI agents or assistants to log into customer accounts or conduct transactions directly on its digital banking platform," citing the need to protect customer account and information security. Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan stated in a CNBC interview this Wednesday that the bank is restricting AI agents' access to consumer deposit accounts and is studying how to define the responsible party when AI initiates payment instructions. JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon stated during the bank's third-quarter earnings call that it will restrict AI agents' access to customer accounts because "you don't want rogue agents, and there could be thousands of them."
Meanwhile, Wall Street executives have been in discussions with Federal Reserve regulators regarding the rapid growth in consumers using AI agents for financial transactions; regulators have privately welcomed banks' efforts to block AI agents from accessing customer accounts.
Deposit outflows threaten the foundation of profits
The immediate trigger for this collective action by the banking industry was the rapid emergence of AI-powered personal finance tools. According to the Financial Times, industry concerns intensified after Meta launched its Muse AI personal assistant in September—the market is generally worried that AI agents will automatically transfer idle funds from bank accounts to higher-yielding products on behalf of consumers.
Apollo's chief economist, Torsten Slok, quantified this risk in a report: AI assistants could automatically transfer idle household funds from the national average of just 0.1% interest on demand accounts to accounts with interest rates of 3.3% to 5%. The report warned that "if every household uses AI agents to optimize cash balance returns, banks could lose a significant amount of low-cost deposits used for lending, posing a threat to the entire financial system."
JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo currently hold a combined $1.6 trillion in interest-free deposits, representing 16% of their total liabilities. If forced to pay a 3% interest rate on these deposits, the three banks would incur an additional cost of approximately $47 billion annually—nearly half of their combined annual after-tax net profit.
Dilemmas in Statements and Determination of Responsibility from Various Sectors
While the methods of defense vary across industries, the core logic remains the same: AI agents are not allowed to operate account funds autonomously until the attribution of responsibility is clear.
Brian Moynihan stated explicitly, "We strongly believe that account transfer authorization should involve human intervention." He indicated that Bank of America is communicating with AI agent service providers, alerting them to the risk that consumers may later dispute the destination of their funds. A source familiar with the matter confirmed that Bank of America has restricted the relevant access permissions of its AI agents.
Jamie Dimon, on the other hand, emphasized the logic of risk management:
"We must protect our clients the right way. We are building the necessary tools. Until then, we will not allow any external agents into the company's systems, as that would be too risky for both our clients and JPMorgan Chase."
Citigroup stated that customers can still authorize limited read-only access to account information through specific open banking service providers.
According to sources familiar with the matter, the Federal Reserve has been in private discussions with banking executives regarding the compliance boundaries of AI agents in financial transactions, but the Fed declined to comment.
Regulators privately support banks' measures to restrict AI agents from accessing accounts. Officials believe that how consumers authorize autonomous technology to complete financial transactions on their behalf, and the determination of liability in case of problems, may need to be clarified through legislation.
How banks should respond: making it "harder for deposits to leave"
Faced with competitive pressure on deposits from AI, the banking industry has begun to seek solutions. Christoph Stegmeier, senior partner at consulting firm Simon-Kucher, said that banks need to increase the stickiness of deposit products by expanding customer loyalty programs and optimizing loan interest rates.
"You have to make your deposit products harder to replace," he said.
This AI-driven battle for deposits has only just begun. How long banks can hold their ground against technological barriers, and whether the regulatory framework can keep pace with the evolution of AI agents, will be two key variables determining the outcome of this contest.
Source:Global Cybersecurity Alliance (GCSA)
Website:www.gcsa.org
소식을 이메일로 받기
개인정보를 존중합니다. 자세한 내용은 개인정보 처리방침