CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Bank of America is warning customers not to share their online banking usernames and passwords with artificial intelligence tools that offer to act on their behalf, while Canada’s largest bank is blocking AI agents.
Bank of America customers an email titled “Protecting your finances in the AI World,” advising them against providing login credentials to outside services, including AI-enabled assistants and agents. A Bank of America spokesperson confirmed the authenticity of the message after it circulated on social media, Technology.org reported, citing TechCrunch.
The email also warns customers that they are responsible for activity resulting from access they authorize by sharing their credentials. The warning does not necessarily determine a customer’s legal liability for every unauthorized transaction, which can depend on federal protections and the circumstances of the incident.
As the CU Daily has been reporting and as was a major focus of the recent Money 20/20 meeting in Las Vegas, giving such tools full account access can create several risks, including unintended transfers, changes to account settings, exposure of stored credentials and activity that triggers a bank’s fraud protections.
Banks Restrict Outside Access
The warning comes amid broader efforts by major banks to limit the activities of third-party AI agents in customer accounts. As the CU Daily also reported earlier, JPMorgan Chase has blocked external agents from directly acting on retail accounts, while Morgan Stanley, Citigroup and Bank of America have tightened controls.
One approach under consideration is read-only access, which could allow an authorized service to review account information without the ability to move money. That arrangement could support budgeting and financial analysis, although balances and transaction histories remain sensitive information, the report said.
The emerging restrictions also reflect a tension between banks’ security concerns and growing interest in so-called agentic payments, in which AI software can make purchases or other financial decisions for users.
Technology.org reported that banks are also concerned that tools able to manage money across multiple institutions could make it easier for customers to shift deposits.
RBC Blocks Agents
Separately, Canada’s largest bank said it will block third-party personal AI agents from direct access to its digital properties, such as online banking.
“We understand that this may be disappointing for the small portion of our clients who use these tools,” Royal Bank of Canada said in a statement. “We make this decision with the safety and security of our clients and systems at the forefront.”
RBC chief executive Dave McKay said AI agents could help consumers, but they are becoming more autonomous and the stakes are high if something goes wrong, ranging from fraud and consumer harm to risks that could ripple more broadly through the financial system.
