Citi and BofA block AI agents from client accounts amid fears of deposit outflows

Citibank and BofA have joined other U.S. banks in blocking AI agents from accessing client accounts. Lenders fear that automated assistants will start moving deposits into higher-yielding investments.

Citigroup has barred third-party AI agents from logging into client accounts and conducting transactions directly through its digital banking platforms. BofA has also restricted AI agents’ access while it develops rules to determine liability for payments initiated by AI, the Financial Times reports.

“We strongly believe there should be a human in the loop to authorise money moving out of your account,” BofA CEO Brian Moynihan told CNBC in an interview cited by the FT. The bank is working with AI agent developers to prevent situations in which customers discover money has left their accounts without understanding why or where it went, he said.

JPMorgan Chase also plans to block third-party AI agents from accessing accounts, CEO Jamie Dimon said following the release of the bank’s quarterly results. He said “you don’t want rogue agents and there could be thousands of them.”

Charles Schwab is already blocking unauthorized AI agents from accessing client accounts and moving their money. These include Muse, Meta Platforms’ personal AI assistant, Schwab CEO Rick Wurster told Bloomberg Television. “We don’t want someone just giving their password to Muse, and letting Muse come in and take action on that client’s behalf. We can’t control it, the client can’t control it, something could go wrong and who’s liable?” Wurster said. Schwab blocks dozens of such attempts each week, he added.

Banks do not intend to cut off AI’s access to financial information entirely, however. Schwab is developing secure pathways that will allow external large language models to connect to its systems. These tools will be able to view account balances and help analyze information, but not move money. Citi, meanwhile, permits limited, read-only access to account data through certain open-banking providers. Schwab itself encourages clients to use its proprietary AI assistant Charley, unveiled last month, Bloomberg writes.

AI assistants could automatically move household cash into accounts paying 3.3-5.0% annually, versus the U.S. average checking-account rate of 0.1%, Apollo chief economist Torsten Slok told the FT.

JPMorgan, BofA, and Wells Fargo hold $1.6 trillion in non-interest-bearing deposits, representing 16% of their combined liabilities. Paying 3% annual interest on those funds would cost the banks about $47 billion more a year, almost half their combined annual earnings, the FT estimates.

Executives at major banks have also contacted Fed officials to express concern about the growing number of customers using AI agents for financial transactions, the FT reports. Regulators have privately supported the restrictions and believe legal clarification is needed on how customers can authorize autonomous systems to conduct transactions and who is liable if something goes wrong.

Lenders should expand loyalty programs and offer customers more attractive terms to retain deposits, the FT writes, citing Christoph Stegmeier, a senior partner at consulting firm Simon-Kucher.