On October 22, 2026, Axios reported that Morgan Stanley had begun blocking third-party AI agents, while JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Citi were restricting them. Reuters separately reported banks blocking outside agents from operating in customer accounts and making transactions. Reuters also reported that Morgan Stanley had not seen unauthorized or rogue agents on its platforms.
Some reported access began when customers shared their own banking credentials with agents. A customer’s permission for a tool to use a login is separate from the bank’s rules for third-party access and from authority to make transactions.
The CBS News segment includes an interview with Control AI executive director Connor Leahy about agent autonomy and cybersecurity. It also relays a JPMorgan Chase statement advising customers not to share usernames and passwords and supporting customer-authorized data sharing through open-banking providers.
Wells Fargo separates account viewing from transaction authority
A Wells Fargo Online Access Agreement version scheduled to take effect November 24, 2026, defines two roles for delegated access. The terms apply to Wells Fargo services and accounts covered by the agreement.
| Access role | What the role permits | Transaction authority |
| View Only | View balances, transaction information and other permitted non-transactional features | Does not authorize transactions under this role |
| View and Transact | An authorized representative can access an account and carry out specified transactions permitted by the service | Limited to the specified permitted transactions |
The agreement’s separate AI-agent section applies if a customer uses, allows or authorizes an agent to interact with a covered service or account, if and when Wells Fargo permits that use. It defines an AI agent as software or technology that can take autonomous, semi-autonomous or non-autonomous action for a person or entity. The agreement treats agent-initiated instructions, actions and transactions as initiated and authorized by the customer, except where law provides otherwise. It also makes the customer responsible for monitoring the agent, maintaining safeguards and revoking authorization, to the extent permitted by law.
For an authorized representative or delegate, the agreement treats transactions by that person or their AI agent, including transactions the customer did not want or intend, as authorized unless the customer tells Wells Fargo the authority has ended and the bank has had a reasonable opportunity to act. The agreement assigns responsibility to the customer, subject to applicable law. These provisions are Wells Fargo contract terms.
Wells Fargo’s Online Access Agreement is scheduled to take effect November 24, 2026.
JPMorgan described internal agent use and limits on outside access
On October 13, 2026, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said the bank uses AI agents internally and plans to use them for customers. He also said JPMorgan would not allow just any outside agents inside the company because of risks to clients and the bank.
On the same call, CFO Jeremy Barnum described personal agents as intersecting with longstanding competition involving deposit flows seeking higher yields and fintech companies.
Behavioral signals can help flag automation
At an August 30, 2026 discussion of fraud detection, Hometown Financial Group CIO Sheryl Shinn described typing cadence, mouse movements and cross-channel activity as behavioral signals. Industry fraud analysis also identifies unusual transaction patterns as a potential signal of automated activity.
