Your AI shopping assistant could empty your account, top banks warn
As AI-powered shopping bots continue to gain traction, major banks like NatWest and Bank of America are raising alarms regarding potential risks such as scams, fraud, and breaches of consumer data privacy. A recent report reveals that while consumers are eager to embrace AI shopping, necessary protective measures are lagging.
Major banks are warning that AI-powered shopping bots could put consumers at risk of scams, fraud, and data breaches. The joint warning from banks such as NatWest, Bank of America, ING, Capital One, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, and New Zealand’s ASB Bank comes as tech giants promote AI agents as shopping tools. Retailers are also competing to influence chatbot recommendations.
British retailer John Lewis reported AI searches jumped to 2.5% this year from 0.3% a year ago. The banks are concerned that AI agents might purchase the wrong item, overspend, or worse, lose money to scams and fraud, and they are unsure about existing protections. In a report, the banking coalition acknowledges the enthusiasm among customers for AI-driven shopping but notes that adoption is outpacing industry standards and consumer safeguards, creating a trust gap between AI promises and current safeguards.
Specific risks include AI agents requesting card details without oversight and steering shoppers toward less secure payment methods. The banks plan to propose mandatory disclosure of AI involvement, greater transparency on decision-making, stronger data protection safeguards, and consumer choice, as well as interoperability across AI commerce systems when presenting their proposals to policymakers.
Written by urgent.news from Times of India's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
