Banks outline principles for AI shopping bots as fraud and privacy risks grow

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Banks set AI bot principles

Highlights

NatWest, Bank of America, ING, ASB Bank, and Capital One warn AI commerce agents risk scams, fraud, and data-privacy breaches, proposing industry and data safeguards.
The banks report AI agents rapidly outpace standards, citing consumer uncertainty about responsible parties in cases of overspending or financial loss during AI-powered transactions.
Retailer John Lewis reports AI-agent-driven searches rose to 2.5% in September from 0.3% last year, prompting calls for interoperability and disclosure standards as adoption accelerates.

Bank proposals for AI commerce safeguards

As reported by Reuters, a group of banks including NatWest, Bank of America, ING, ASB Bank and Capital One says AI agents used for shopping could expose consumers to scams, fraud and data-privacy breaches. The lenders set out principles on Tuesday for how the technology should develop as more companies promote chatbots that can choose products and complete purchases on behalf of users.

The banks say customers are enthusiastic about so-called agentic commerce, but they warn the technology is advancing faster than industry standards and consumer protections. Their report says consumers remain unsure whether AI systems will act in their interests, whether they will buy the right products or overspend, and who will be responsible if money is lost when something goes wrong.

The report highlights risks such as AI agents asking for customers' card details and entering them directly into websites, or steering users toward payment methods that provide weaker protections. The banks plan to discuss proposals with policymakers, including disclosure when an AI agent is involved in a transaction, more transparency over how those systems make decisions, and safeguards for customer data.

Retail adoption adds pressure on standards

Technology groups including OpenAI, Google and Meta are increasingly promoting AI chatbots as shopping tools, setting out a model in which consumers rely on software agents to search, compare and buy products. At the same time, retailers are trying to shape how those chatbots recommend goods and services.

British retailer John Lewis says searches coming from AI agents have risen to 2.5% in September from 0.3% a year earlier, with the trend accelerating. The banks also say consumers and merchants should remain free to choose which AI-powered e-commerce services they use, while different systems should be interoperable so the market does not become locked into isolated platforms.

In our earlier article, we examined how the spread of AI agents at work is reshaping day-to-day responsibilities, with many employees spending more time supervising machine output than doing core tasks. We also noted that accountability is shifting to workers even as training, titles, and compensation often lag behind, widening gaps between added responsibility and formal recognition.

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