According to the Financial Times on October 16, U.S. banks have warned regulators that AI agents may automatically transfer idle funds to other accounts to help users achieve higher returns, leading to significant deposit outflows. Citigroup and Bank of America have already taken measures to restrict AI agents' access to customer accounts.
Citibank states that, to protect customer account and personal information security, the bank prohibits third-party AI agents or assistants from logging into customer accounts or conducting transactions directly through its digital banking platform.
Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan said the bank also restricts AI agents from accessing personal customer deposits and is developing rules to clarify ultimate responsibility for AI-authorized payments. He said, “We firmly believe that funds transfers from accounts must be authorized by a human. We are communicating with AI agent providers, telling them: ‘You certainly don’t want consumers coming back to complain that money was withdrawn from their accounts without knowing why or where it went—only to find out it was an AI agent.’”
A source confirmed that Bank of America has implemented restrictions.
In September this year, after Meta launched its AI personal assistant, Muse, concerns in the banking industry over deposit outflows intensified. Banks fear that AI agents will help consumers find higher-yielding deposit accounts and move large amounts of idle funds away from existing accounts.
Meanwhile, AI companies are racing to launch new tools and chatbots to help consumers manage their personal finances.
Torsten Slok, Chief Economist at Apollo Global Management, warned in a report that AI assistants could automatically move household funds from checking accounts, which yield an average U.S. interest rate of just 0.1%, into other accounts offering interest rates of 3.3% to 5%, further intensifying concerns within the banking sector.
JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo collectively hold $1.6 trillion in interest-free deposits, accounting for 16% of their total liabilities. If these banks paid depositors interest at a rate of 3%, they would incur an additional annual expense of $47 billion—nearly half of their combined annual profits.
Reports say that if banks are forced to raise interest rates on personal deposits to prevent depositors from moving their funds to institutions offering higher rates, their profits could shrink significantly.
The report indicates that if every household uses AI agents to boost returns on cash deposits, banks could lose a significant portion of their low-cost deposits used for lending, posing problems for the entire financial system.
A person familiar with the matter said that Wall Street executives have also expressed concerns to Federal Reserve regulators about the growing use of AI agents by consumers to conduct financial transactions.
Regulators privately welcomed banks' decision to block AI agents from accessing customer accounts. They believe the law may need further clarification on how consumers should authorize AI agents to conduct financial transactions on their behalf, and who should be held liable when things go wrong.
Citibank stated that customers can still authorize certain open banking service providers to access account information in a limited, read-only capacity.
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said this week that banks will restrict AI agents' access to customer accounts to avoid the potential risk of thousands of uncontrolled agents. He said, “We must ensure customers are protected appropriately, and we are developing the necessary tools. In the meantime, we will not allow any external AI agents to freely enter our banking systems, as the risks to customers and JPMorgan Chase are too great.”
Christoph Stegmüller, Senior Partner at consulting firm Simon-Kucher, said banks need to take measures to encourage customers to continue depositing funds and must find ways to increase customer retention for deposit products. Specific actions could include expanding customer loyalty programs and offering different loan interest rates through these programs.