Citi Blocks External AI Agents From Account Access, Cites Regulatory Guardrails

Citigroup has blocked all external artificial intelligence agents from accessing its systems beyond existing open banking read-only access, a senior executive said at the Money20/20 conference in Las Vegas on Monday. The $2.6 trillion-asset bank will not rush to open agentic access, said Naveed Anwar, global head of AI, digital and data platforms within Citi's services business. "As of right now, no one is connecting to Citi agentically, because we just don't know what those models will be able to do," Anwar said. He said a "know your agent" process akin to know-your-customer protocols is needed to meet regulatory demands. JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, Charles Schwab and Fifth Third have also restricted AI agents from customer accounts, according to Reuters and Banking Dive reporting. PNC CEO Bill Demchak said no bank will permit agent transactions without human oversight. Citi's services unit has deployed 15 AI use cases and plans to roll out about 60 more between the fourth quarter and first quarter. It is piloting self-initiated account opening through CitiDirect for U.S. corporate clients, with expansion to other countries next year.