No entry for outside AI agents: Schwab and JPMorgan lock bots out of customer accounts
Two of the largest US financial firms are not letting external AI agents into accounts with customer credentials. Schwab CEO Rick Wurster points to unresolved liability and to the firm's own assistant.
Archive image · Photo: Ajay Suresh / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0 (cropped and resized)
US broker Charles Schwab is blocking third-party AI agents that try to log in with customers' credentials or move money via browser automation – Meta's assistant Muse is named as one example. Speaking of an agent trying to log in on a client's behalf, Schwab CEO Rick Wurster said, according to Financial Planning: "We are not going to allow that." On Bloomberg TV he asked who would be liable if something went wrong, The Next Web reports.
Instead of password log-ins, Schwab wants to give external AI tools read-only access through Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers: checking balances and research yes, moving money no. At the same time, the firm is promoting its own assistant Charley, unveiled at the end of September.
JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon had already said on Tuesday's earnings call that the bank will not let outside agents inside the company because that is "too risky" for clients and for JPMorgan. Who is liable when AI agents make mistakes is still unresolved in the US, according to The Next Web; Congress is debating the issue.