Bank of America warns customers not to share passwords with AI assistants

In short: Bank of America is telling customers not to share online banking usernames and passwords with AI assistants that offer to manage money for them.

What's going on

Bank of America sent an email to customers titled “Protecting your finances in the AI world.” In it, the bank said people should never share their banking username and password with anyone, including an “AI-enabled tool or agent” that offers to act on their behalf.

An AI agent is a type of assistant that can take actions for you, not just answer questions. Think of it like giving someone your house key so they can run errands, except the errands are logging into your bank account and moving money.

The bank’s warning comes as more people try using personal AI assistants for everyday tasks. But giving an outside tool your bank login can create several problems. The AI could make a payment or transfer without you realizing it, the bank could see strange activity and temporarily lock your account, or a security weakness in the assistant could expose your login details to criminals.

The email also reminded customers about responsibility. Bank of America said that if you share your credentials, you are responsible for activity that happens because of that access.

What to watch

Banks are still figuring out how, or if, they should support AI tools that can make purchases or payments automatically, sometimes called “agentic payments” (payments made by a tool you set up to act for you). For now, customers should watch for banks offering safer options, like official connections that do not require handing over a password, similar to how you might authorize a service without giving it your key.

Source: TechCrunch AI