AI Helps Savers Earn More, but Banks Are Rattled: Citi, BofA, and JPMorgan Collectively Guard Against AI Agents

Citigroup, Bank of America, and JPMorgan Chase have successively announced restrictions on AI agent access to customer accounts. Behind this collective defensive posture lies the banking industry's deep anxiety that trillions of dollars in low-cost deposits could be "swept away" by AI. Citigroup explicitly stated that it does not allow "third-party AI agents or assistants to log into customer accounts or conduct transactions directly on its digital banking platform," saying the move is aimed at safeguarding customer account and information security. Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan said in a CNBC interview on Wednesday that the bank is restricting AI agent access to consumer deposit accounts while studying how to determine liability when AI initiates payment instructions. JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon said on the bank's third-quarter earnings call that it will restrict AI agent access to customer accounts, citing the reason that "you don't want rogue agents, and there could be thousands of them." Meanwhile, Wall Street executives have been in communication with Federal Reserve supervisors regarding the rapid growth of consumers using AI agents for financial transactions; regulators privately welcome the banks' moves to block AI agent access to customer accounts. Deposit Outflows Threaten the Foundation of Profits The direct trigger for this collective banking industry action is the accelerating emergence of AI personal finance tools. According to a Financial Times report, after Meta launched the Muse AI personal assistant in September, industry concerns noticeably intensifiedthe market widely fears that AI agents will automatically transfer consumers' idle funds from bank accounts to higher-yielding products. Apollo Chief Economist Torsten Slok quantified this risk in a report: AI assistants could automatically move household idle funds from the national average demand deposit account rate of just 0.1% to accounts yielding 3.3% to 5%. The report warned that "if every household uses AI agents to optimize cash balance yields, banks could lose large amounts of low-cost deposits used for lending, which would pose a threat to the entire financial system." JPMorgan, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo currently hold a combined $1.6 trillion in non-interest-bearing deposits, accounting for 16% of their total liabilities. If forced to pay 3% interest on these deposits, the three banks would bear an additional cost of approximately $47 billion annuallyequivalent to nearly half of their combined annual after-tax net profits. Bank Statements and the Liability Determination Dilemma The banks differ in their approach to defense, but the core logic is consistent: before liability attribution is clarified, AI agents are not allowed to autonomously operate account funds. Brian Moynihan explicitly stated, "We strongly believe there should be human involvement in authorizing account transfers." He said Bank of America is communicating with AI agent service providers, alerting them to the risk that consumers may later dispute where funds went. A person familiar with the matter confirmed that Bank of America has restricted relevant AI agent access permissions. Jamie Dimon emphasized the risk control logic: "We have to protect customers in the right way. We are building the tools for that. Until then, we will not allow any external agents into the company's systems, because it is too risky for customers and for JPMorgan." Citigroup said customers can still authorize limited read-only access to account information through specific open banking providers. According to people familiar with the matter, the Federal Reserve has held private discussions with banking executives regarding the compliance boundaries of AI agents in financial transactions, but the Fed declined to comment. Regulators privately support the banks' moves to restrict AI agent access to accounts. Officials believe that how consumers authorize autonomous technology to complete financial transactions on their behalf, and how liability is determined when problems arise, may need to be clarified through legislation. How Banks Are Responding: Making Deposits "Harder to Move" Facing deposit competition pressure brought by AI, the banking industry has begun seeking countermeasures. Christoph Stegmeier, senior partner at consulting firm Simon-Kucher, said banks need to enhance the stickiness of deposit products by expanding customer loyalty programs and optimizing loan 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 the line on the technological defense front, and whether the regulatory framework can keep pace with the evolution of AI agents, will become the two key variables determining the direction of this game. This article is reprinted from "Wallstreetcn," author: Zhang Yaqi; GMTEight editor: Yan Wencai.