{"id":948993,"date":"2026-10-28T05:06:13","date_gmt":"2026-10-28T05:06:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/948993\/"},"modified":"2026-10-28T05:06:13","modified_gmt":"2026-10-28T05:06:13","slug":"rbc-bars-personal-ai-agents-from-accessing-online-banking-other-digital-properties","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/948993\/","title":{"rendered":"RBC bars personal AI agents from accessing online banking, other digital properties"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

As security concerns mount, regulators and banks such as RBC have boosted scrutiny of AI agents from social media sites and other platforms.Andrew Lahodynskyj\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

Royal Bank of Canada is blocking third-party personal artificial intelligence agents from directly accessing the bank\u2019s digital properties, including online banking, joining a growing number of banks restricting agents\u2019 access to customer data. <\/p>\n

As security concerns over AI mount, regulators and banks have boosted scrutiny of AI agents from social media sites and other platforms. At a conference earlier on Tuesday, Canada\u2019s top banking regulator said he is ramping up oversight of AI practices at the country\u2019s largest lenders, but would stop short of barring them from allowing customers to use AI agents, semi-autonomous AI entities designed to carry out instructions from humans. <\/p>\n

Customers can authorize AI agents, such as Meta Platforms Inc.\u2019s Muse, to access their bank accounts, transaction history and credit card data to analyze spending patterns and make recommendations. <\/p>\n

RBC conducted a security review of AI agent technology and its functionality, which informed its decision, the bank said Tuesday evening in an internal memo seen by The Globe and Mail. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhile we appreciate the benefits of using AI to save time, nothing is more important than the security of client information,\u201d RBC head of technology and operations Naim Kazmi and head of personal banking Erica Nielsen said in the memo. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhile we recognize the potential of agentic AI to assist customers, we know that third-party personal AI agents accessing banking systems can create unacceptable customer risk, including acting beyond customer expectations or creating liability exposure.\u201d <\/p>\n

RBC did not elaborate in the memo on which tools fell into the category of \u201cthird-party personal\u201d AI agents. <\/p>\n

Cohere catches Alibaba AI model trying to upload file to Beijing server<\/a><\/p>\n

U.S.-based banks JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Charles Schwab Corp. recently said they are blocking or limiting outside AI agents\u2019 access to their customers\u2019 data. RBC is the first Canadian bank to block the use of external AI agents on its sites, but Bank of Montreal chief executive Darryl White said at an event last week that customers should not share sensitive banking data with AI agents. <\/p>\n

Canada\u2019s banks have been investing heavily in AI systems. RBC ranked third globally<\/a> for AI adoption for the fifth consecutive year, according to a recent report by AI benchmarking platform Evident. <\/p>\n

Lenders are betting on the technology to boost productivity and help generate more revenue. But the rapid adoption of the technology has also prompted concerns over cybersecurity, financial crime and privacy. <\/p>\n

In an interview on Bloomberg TV last week, RBC CEO Dave McKay said the bank was considering blocking Muse from accessing the bank\u2019s customer information.<\/p>\n

RBC will begin work on blocking these platforms immediately, the lender said in the memo. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe understand that this may be disappointing for the small portion of our clients who use these tools, and we make this decision with the safety and security of our clients and systems at the forefront,\u201d RBC spokesperson Jeff Lanthier said in a statement. <\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

OSFI superintendent Peter Routledge, shown in Ottawa in 2023, said customers could choose to switch financial services providers based on whether they want to use AI agents.Dave Chan\/The Globe and Mail<\/p>\n

Peter Routledge, the superintendent of the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions, said Tuesday he would ultimately leave the decision on AI agents up to individual banks, so long as they are following the regulator\u2019s guidelines. <\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think we would get down to the level of you should do it this way, and so everyone should do it this way. I don\u2019t think that\u2019s not our highest and best use,\u201d Mr. Routledge told reporters during the Tech Festival Canada. \u201cWhere I stand right now on third-party risk and AI is we\u2019re more principles-based.\u201d <\/p>\n

Mr. Routledge said customers could choose to switch financial services providers based on whether or not they want to use these types of services. <\/p>\n

Earlier this month, Mr. Routledge said OSFI is planning to implement tighter guidelines<\/a> on AI as threats from agents and Anthropic\u2019s powerful Claude Mythos model accelerate risks among the country\u2019s banks. In the spring, the regulator published guidelines for banks on agentic AI that ask whether the bank\u2019s connection to a third party puts the institution or its customers at risk. <\/p>\n

Global financial watchdog the Financial Stability Board has recommended that financial institutions reinforce oversight of their AI systems, including restricting agents\u2019 access to sensitive information. <\/p>\n

\u201cTo the extent a board of directors and their CEO decide now we\u2019ve got to mitigate this risk from agents that are perhaps issuing transaction instructions on behalf of a human being \u2013 maybe that board and that CEO decides that\u2019s too risky,\u201d Mr. Routledge said. <\/p>\n

\u201cProvided it\u2019s done in a responsible way, that to me is indicative of sound risk management.\u201d <\/p>\n

Anthropic sets stage for blockbuster IPO, highlighting AI\u2019s benefits and risks for humanity<\/a><\/p>\n

Mr. Routledge\u2019s seven-year term as the head of OSFI will come to a close in June, 2028, unless he is reappointed. In the lead-up to that deadline, he said his most significant tasks will be to develop a framework for managing AI risks and changing OSFI\u2019s culture to be more open to risk.<\/p>\n

The next superintendent\u2019s term, which will run from 2028 to 2035, will have to focus on major forces that will transform financial services, Mr. Routledge said. That includes the digitalization of money and the arrival of AI. <\/p>\n

He said the financial system in 2035 will look vastly different than the one that exists today. <\/p>\n

The next superintendent \u201cis going to have to figure out how to supervise in that period of immense change and deliver both resilience \u2013 which Canadians want from their financial system \u2013 and Canadians want more competition,\u201d Mr. Routledge said. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey want more services for lower costs, and they want a financial system that\u2019s fuelling growth at a time of tremendous economic transition for the country.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: As security concerns mount, regulators and banks such as RBC have boosted scrutiny…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":948994,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[62,901,276,277,888,902,879,877,903,49,48,876,895,896,891,878,875,46,549,295,894,887,914,880,881,893,889,890,884,904,885,909,910,912,907,911,905,908,882,898,899,714,897,906,865,61,900,892,886,883,913],"class_list":["post-948993","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-artificial-intelligence","tag-ai","tag-alberta","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-artificialintelligence","tag-arts-news","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/948993","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=948993"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/948993\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/948994"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=948993"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=948993"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=948993"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}