AI agents want to handle more of your life, including your money, but US banks are drawing a line when these AI assistants try to move funds on your behalf. Charles Schwab and JPMorgan Chase are now restricting outside AI agents from taking financial actions, citing security risks and unanswered questions about who takes responsibility when things go wrong.
Charles Schwab CEO Rick Wurster told Bloomberg that Schwab is actively blocking unauthorized AI agents, including Meta’s Muse, from moving client money. JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon made a similar call this week, so this isn’t just one bank being cautious.
Why are banks blocking AI agents from moving money?
Muse executing tasks on user’s behalf Meta
Wurster says he doesn’t want clients handing their passwords to an agent like Muse and letting it take action on their behalf. “We can’t control it, the client can’t control it, something could go wrong and who’s liable?” he said.
The question of liability doesn’t have a clear answer yet, since Congress is still debating how AI agent liability should even work. Wurster said he gets a weekly report showing these blocks happening ten to twenty times each week for major agents, which he takes as a sign people aren’t ready to trust artificial intelligence with their full accounts just yet.
OpenAI / Digital Trends
Can you still use AI with your bank account?
Schwab isn’t shutting the door on AI altogether. Instead, it plans to create secure connections using model context protocol (MCP) servers. That will give your chosen AI model access to permitted information, such as checking account balances, and conducting research without transferring your money.
AI assistant Charley Charles Schwab
Schwab also wants customers to use its own AI assistant, Charley, which the company announced on September 30. JPMorgan is also taking a similar approach by letting outside tools view account data while keeping them locked out of sending money or paying bills. Both moves come as US and European regulators start asking banks tougher questions about how they’re handling AI agents and the cyber risks that come with them.
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