Citi, BofA Restrict AI Agents From Accessing Customer Accounts

The stated security rationale is only part of the story: the banks' own filings point to deposit stability as the real concern, since agents that move idle cash toward higher yields could erode a cheap funding base. That tension — banks selling AI convenience while fencing off the one use case that threatens their economics — is likely to define how agent access is negotiated across the sector. Whether regulators treat deposit defense as a legitimate basis for restricting third-party agents, or as incumbents entrenching themselves, is the open question.