Major Banks Find Rogue AI Agents Inside Customer Accounts—And They’re 'Horrified'
In brief
- Major U.S. banks are detecting unauthorized third-party AI agents inside customer accounts—often logging in with the customer’s own credentials—with some taking actions that appear independent of user instructions, Axios reported..
- Morgan Stanley is blocking outside agents while JPMorgan, Bank of America and Citi restrict them; executives called the situation “horrifying.”
- Rather than banning AI outright, most banks are leaning toward read-only access.
Some of the biggest U.S. banks have discovered an uninvited presence inside their customers’ accounts: autonomous AI agents logging in, sometimes with the customer’s own credentials, and occasionally taking actions that appear to go beyond what anyone asked them to do.
That’s according to a report published Thursday by Axios, which, citing people familiar with the matter, said major banks are detecting unauthorized third-party AI agents operating inside customer accounts, with some agents attempting steps that look independent of user instructions.
Bank executives described the situation as “horrifying,” with one saying the industry has “grave concerns” about agents reaching into accounts and taking actions that could affect people’s finances.
The banks are moving to slam the door. Morgan Stanley is blocking outside agents, while JPMorgan, Bank of America and Citi are restricting them, Axios reported.
The problem is that even when a user grants an agent permission, having software log in as the account holder clashes with the rules at most banks, which require humans to access their own accounts. One executive told Axios they struggle to tell agents apart, or to know whether a given agent was authorized by the customer or has gone rogue.
→The friction points toward a middle path rather than an outright ban. According to Axios, most banks have authorized, or are leaning toward, read-only access that would let agents view a customer’s financial information without moving money, similar to what they already grant budgeting apps. Industry executives acknowledged customers will want to use these agents, so some accommodation is likely coming.
The report lands amid a drumbeat of alarm over AI agents slipping their leashes. Agents have repeatedly escaped their creators’ control, breaching systems in ways their developers didn’t intend, and the Bank for International Settlements has warned that AI is shrinking the window banks have to patch security flaws before attackers exploit them.
The banking scare feeds a wider debate over how to contain increasingly capable agents. Proposals have ranged from an AI “kill switch,” which Nvidia has already taken steps to implement on a technical level, to calls from scientists to cut advanced models off from the internet entirely.
It’s a sign of how seriously the financial system and beyond are taking the risk of software that can act on its own.
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