AI News · The messy stuff ·
Bank of America warns customers not to give AI agents their banking logins
Bank of America emailed customers urging them never to share their username and password with an outside service, including an AI tool or agent that offers to act on their behalf. The bank said customers who do share credentials are responsible for the resulting activity. A spokesperson confirmed the email to TechCrunch.
Key points
- Bank of America told customers not to share logins with AI tools or agents.
- The bank said customers are responsible for activity after sharing credentials.
- Axios reported banks are dealing with unauthorized agents accessing customer money.
What happened: Bank of America sent customers an email titled "Protecting your finances in the AI World," urging them never to share their username and password with another person or outside service, "including an AI-enabled tool or agent that offers to act on your behalf." A bank spokesperson confirmed to TechCrunch that the email is authentic. It was first posted to social media by Bryan Toporek.
The details: The email says that if customers do share credentials, "you're responsible for activity resulting from that access." TechCrunch noted that account agreements at most banks hold customers responsible for anyone they give their login to, citing U.S. Bank's digital services agreement as an example.
Background: TechCrunch reported that customers are increasingly giving logins to personal AI assistants, and outlined three risks: an agent acting on finances without the owner's knowledge, a bank treating agent activity as an account takeover and locking the customer out, and a flaw in the assistant leaking credentials to hackers. The outlet also cited an Axios report from October 22 that banks are dealing with unauthorized agents accessing customers' money.
What to watch: Banks, payment providers and processors are still working out how to let customers use AI tools safely, including for agentic payments where agents buy items autonomously. Bank of America has not disclosed whether it plans to offer an approved way for agents to access accounts.
Our take
Teams building or adopting AI agents that touch financial accounts need delegated access designs, because handing agents raw credentials can shift liability to the user.