If you have given an AI agent your bank login so it can check balances or pay bills for you, two of the biggest US financial firms now say no. Charles Schwab is blocking AI agents that log in to client accounts on a customer’s behalf, and JPMorgan Chase says it does not let outside agents use customers’ banking logins.
The short version
Big banks are drawing a line on AI agents and your money. Read-only help is mostly fine, but an agent that logs in with your password, or tries to move money, is being blocked, and you carry the risk if something goes wrong.
- Schwab CEO Rick Wurster said on Oct. 15 that Schwab is “blocking unauthorized agents who try to log in on behalf of clients.”
- Schwab says it will not let AI tools move money for now, including its own assistant, Charley.
- JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon warned on Oct. 13 that customers who use agents face a “liability transfer,” and Chase’s updated terms, which take effect Jan. 1, 2027, say you are responsible for what an agent does with your login.
- Schwab’s Security Guarantee says that if you share your login, it will treat that person’s activity as authorized by you.
- The safer route is to use a bank’s own assistant or an approved connection, and never hand a password to a chatbot.
The upshot: AI agents from Meta, OpenAI, Google and others can now sign in to websites and click buttons for you. Banks are telling customers that if an agent does that inside a financial account, the bank may block it, and if money goes missing, the customer may not be covered.
What Schwab said about AI agents
On Schwab’s third-quarter earnings call on Oct. 15, Wurster said: “We are blocking unauthorized agents who try to log in on behalf of clients. It is not a safe way for our clients to access Schwab.” Asked why, he said Schwab wants “control over authentication and the experience,” and that it does not allow AI tools to move money “because we think there’s too much risk there to the client and to the firm.”
Schwab is not shutting out AI completely. It is rolling out its own assistant, Charley, which can show balances, positions and statements, set alerts, add beneficiaries and update contact details, but cannot move money. Wurster also said Schwab will let clients connect outside chatbots through a controlled link that can limit risky actions, starting with a pilot with Anthropic’s Claude.
What JPMorgan Chase said
Dimon talked about AI agents on JPMorgan’s earnings call on Oct. 13. He warned against “rogue agents” and said that when customers let outside AI tools act for them, there is a “liability transfer,” meaning the risk moves to the customer. A JPMorgan spokeswoman told reporters the bank does not let third parties into accounts using customers’ banking credentials, though read-only data connections through approved services are allowed.
Chase’s own Digital Services Agreement, updated in October 2026, now names AI agents directly, in a section that takes effect Jan. 1, 2027. It says that if you let an agent use your login, “you are authorizing any transactions and activities performed by them.” It adds that Chase “will rely on any instructions or actions taken by your Agent as if they were taken by you personally,” and will not screen what the agent does.
Why an AI agent with your bank login is risky
Federal rules give you strong protection when someone steals your card or login and drains your account. But those rules generally do not cover transfers made by someone you gave access to. Schwab spells this out in its Security Guarantee: “If you share this information with anyone, we will consider their activities to have been authorized by you.”
In plain words, if an agent misreads your instructions, gets tricked by a fake website, or is hijacked, the bank can treat the result as something you approved. Lawyers say it is still unsettled how that applies to AI agents, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has not issued specific guidance on it.
How to use AI with your money more safely
- Do not type your bank, brokerage or card login into any chatbot or AI agent.
- Use your bank’s own assistant, such as Schwab’s Charley, or connections your bank lists as approved.
- For shopping, use agents that pay with a one-time card number or a payment token you approve in the chat, not your saved bank login.
- Turn on alerts for every transfer and card charge, so you see mistakes the same day.
- If you already shared a password with an agent, change it now and turn on two-factor sign-in.
Scammers are also copying the look of AI assistants. Our guide to spotting AI scams and our one-afternoon account security checklist cover the basics, and a password manager makes it easier to keep logins out of chat windows.
What to watch next
Expect more banks to publish AI agent rules in their account terms, as Chase just did. Schwab says its pilot for outside chatbots will expand “in the coming months,” and the CFPB is still rewriting its open banking rule, which decides how outside apps can reach your bank data.
