AI has left banks sleepless; it accessed customers' bank accounts without asking..

Data belonging to customers of India’s largest bank, the State Bank of India (SBI), was recently leaked on the dark web. SBI has acknowledged that its systems were breached. Meanwhile, developments in the United States have put banks worldwide on high alert. Unauthorized third-party AI agents are infiltrating the systems of major American banks. In some instances, these AI agents have even attempted to execute transactions in user accounts on their own initiative, without any instructions from the account holders.

According to a report by Axios, in response to this AI-driven intrusion, major financial institutions—including JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citi, and Morgan Stanley—have taken the precautionary step of blocking third-party AI agents from accessing their systems. Security experts at these banks note that these AI incursions are so sophisticated that the systems cannot distinguish whether an account is being operated by a human or a robotic AI bot. These bots are attempting to carry out transactions and even interact with bank call centers.

How did this vulnerability arise?

The issue stems from a convenience feature used by customers, who often share their usernames and passwords with AI assistants or third-party tools to manage their daily financial tasks. Although this is done with the customer's consent, it directly violates fundamental banking security protocols, which mandate that users must perform their own logins. When an AI agent gains access to a customer’s login credentials—along with the authorization to make purchases or transfer funds—it creates a significant security risk. This is precisely what is currently unfolding in the United States.

Implementing Bans and ‘Read-Only’ Access

Banks have begun taking measures to counter this threat from AI bots. Many banks have blocked third-party AI agents from directly accessing their platforms. Furthermore, banks are now implementing systems that grant external tools only ‘read-only’ access. This effectively means that an AI bot will be able to view information such as account balances or transaction details, but will be unable to transfer funds from a customer’s account or perform any other actions.

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