Smaller banks open agent-scoped accounts while JPMorgan and Wells Fargo stay closed

What's the deal? While large US banks restrict how AI agents touch consumer accounts, some smaller banks and fintech partners are opening a controlled path for agent spending, The Information reports. Lead Bank in Kansas City, which works with Stripe, lets fintech partners issue account numbers reserved for agents, with spending limits and instant lockout. Increase Bank, owned by early Stripe employee Darragh Buckley, plans isolated agent accounts accessible by API, plus cards. Natural, a Forerunner-backed payments startup that has raised more than $40 million, offers agents FDIC-insured wallets via Column Bank. Cross River Bank says agent card payments it powers passed $40 million across more than 200,000 transactions in three months, led by airlines.

The contrast. JPMorgan restricts AI agents' access to consumer accounts, and Wells Fargo has made customers liable for their agents' actions, according to the same report — so the early build-out is concentrating at banks willing to issue agent-scoped credentials rather than open the core retail account.

Caveats. Liability for unintended agent payments remains unresolved. Increase Bank's offering is planned rather than fully live in the piece. Natural's raise total and Cross River's volume figures come from company statements via The Information; independent verification is not published.

Why it matters. Agent commerce needs a banking rail, not just model APIs. The banks and fintechs willing to issue agent-scoped accounts and cards are becoming the control points — and the liability rules they set may shape how far agents can spend before big-bank compliance catches up.

Source: The Information (Yueqi Yang).