Five major banks publish agentic commerce principles as AI shopping bots outpace fraud safeguards
Five major banks publish agentic commerce principles as AI shopping bots outpace fraud safeguards #
Five global banks published a joint report Tuesday outlining principles for the responsible development of agentic commerce, warning that AI-powered shopping tools are advancing faster than the consumer protections designed to govern them.
NatWest, Bank of America, ING, New Zealand’s ASB Bank and Capital One issued the report as technology companies including OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and Meta push AI assistants capable of browsing, selecting and purchasing goods on a user’s behalf. British retailer John Lewis reported that AI-agent-driven searches on its platform reached 2.5% of total searches in September, up from 0.3% a year earlier.
Despite growing adoption, the banks say consumers remain uneasy about delegating financial decisions to automated systems. Shoppers may welcome the convenience in theory but worry about agents buying the wrong item, exceeding budget limits or routing funds to fraudsters. Many are also uncertain about who bears responsibility, or where to turn, if something goes wrong.
The report identifies several threat categories. One is AI agents that request a consumer’s card details and enter them directly into merchant websites, bypassing the fraud-detection layers built into standard payment flows. Another is the potential for agents to steer users toward payment methods with weaker consumer safeguards, whether through design choices or manipulation by bad actors. The report also flags the risk of criminals impersonating legitimate AI agents or merchants as a new form of social engineering.
In its announcement, NatWest said the participating banks view their position connecting consumers, businesses and merchants as reason to help shape how the technology develops. The stated aim is to ensure customers and merchants retain genuine choice and control over how they pay and are paid, while keeping transactions secure.
The coalition plans to bring its proposals directly to policymakers. Its main requests include mandatory disclosure whenever an AI agent is involved in a transaction, greater transparency over how agentic systems reach purchasing decisions, and stronger safeguards for the customer data these systems collect and process.
The report does not resolve the liability question. If an AI agent authorises a fraudulent purchase, it remains unclear whether the bank, the AI provider, the merchant or the consumer bears the loss. The banks argue that settling this question is what makes the principles pressing: without agreed rules, consumer trust in agentic commerce could erode before the technology matures.
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