Bank of America, Capital One Flag AI Shopping Agent Risks

Six major global banks, including Bank of America and Capital One, have published a report warning that consumers face new risks as AI agents begin handling online shopping on their behalf. The report, titled 'Building Trust in Agentic Commerce,' identifies 'risks spanning transparency, safety, privacy & data, choice, and interoperability,' and warns of 'potential for higher rates of scams, fraud and disputes,' Gizmodo reported.

The central worry is alignment. 'Consumers are unclear if AI agents will act in their interests,' the report states, adding that shoppers worry an agent 'may buy the wrong thing or spend too much.' There is also a commercial concern beneath it: an agent's ranking of options can favour whichever merchant pays the highest commission, rather than the product that best fits the shopper.

Not everyone in retail sees agents as transformative. Ron Johnson, the former Apple executive behind the original Apple Stores, said AI 'will improve the online shopping experience' but will not change 'the way we shop,' because 'AI will never be able to have you physically experience a product.' His prediction is that agent-assisted browsing turns customers into 'more informed shoppers when they come to the store.'

The banks are not opposing agentic commerce. They call it a plausible 'mainstream way in which consumers and merchants transact,' and want industry standards in place before it scales. Recent security incidents give the argument weight: Gizmodo notes Meta patched a zero-day in its Muse AI assistant that could enable hijacking, and Amazon has told Meta's Muse to stop using its platform over credential-identification concerns.