Banks and Amazon are deciding who gets to front the agent

RBC closes the door

Royal Bank of Canada has decided to block third-party personal AI agents from direct access to online banking, and the connections customers used to let those agents reach their accounts will stop working. RBC says personal agents need access to your online accounts and may store your passwords.

Bank of America warns customers

Bank of America urged customers to never share their username and password with an outside service, including an AI-enabled tool or agent. Account agreements at most banks hold customers responsible for anyone they give their log-in to, TechCrunch reported.

Amazon keeps shoppers home

The Information reported that Amazon is expanding Shop Direct in an effort to keep shoppers coming to its site rather than using outside personal AI agents, and that it has increased the number of Shop Direct links by 2.5 times since March, to 250 million.

Payments explore the other path

Tencent and Visa signed a memorandum of understanding to improve payment connectivity for travellers entering and leaving China, and will explore how Visa Intelligent Commerce could help AI agents find products, select items and complete purchases for eligible users while maintaining consumer control and security.

What to watch in your own shop

Side by side, we see institutions deciding on what terms an outside agent may touch a customer account or a checkout page. If you work in a bank, a lender or a payments firm, it is worth asking where your own terms for agents are written down today, and who a customer would call when one goes wrong.