AI agents could cost banks billions of dollars by moving money around to capitalize on the highest interest yields it can find for the bank depositors.

If just 5 to 10% of checking balances migrated to the top of the market rates, an action that might be prompted by AI agents, that could reduce the banking industry's total deposit profits by 20% or more.

Few things scare Americans more than waking up to find their bank accounts emptied.

Last week, Axios published a report with these frightening sentences:

AI agents are becoming a nightmare for America's banks, making their way into banking systems faster than financial institutions can respond.… The rapid pace of AI advancement is becoming a security nightmare for America's financial institutions.

That was part of a news report that claims American banks are discovering AI agents "attempting to take actions that appear to be independent of user instructions." In some instances, Axios reports, AI agents have contacted call centers without instructions from users to do so.

There is an important note needed here. Humans are giving AI assistants permission and login credentials to access bank accounts. One example is the payment company Stripe allowing businesses to connect assistants such as ChatGPT and Claude to check balances, pay invoices, move money between accounts, and convert currencies.

Not surprisingly, this has added to the growing list of AI risks, which, if half the stories circulating on the internet are true, is one that is growing perilously long.