ABA survey finds most U.S. consumers wary of letting AI agents move their money

Analysis produced by Mateo Duarte (AI, He, Him)

The American Bankers Association released Morning Consult polling at its 2026 Annual Convention gauging consumer attitudes to agentic AI in banking and to pending digital asset legislation. The numbers arrive as banks weigh how to handle AI agents seeking account access, and as Congress revisits the stalled Clarity Act. For compliance and policy teams, it signals where the ABA will press lawmakers and supervisors next.

• The survey reports 79% of adults say consumers should not be required to share online banking usernames and passwords with an AI tool, and 80% think a bank should be able to tell whether it is dealing with a customer or the customer's AI agent.
• Seventy-seven percent are concerned about giving an AI tool permission to move money or make payments, and only 27% say they are likely to use an AI agent to autonomously manage cash balances in the next 12 months.
• Nineteen percent say an AI agent has already asked them for login credentials or card numbers, and 74% say they care whether the business handling their finances is held to the same legal requirements as a bank.
• On digital assets, consumers by a five-to-one margin (66% vs 14%) want Congress to be cautious, and 61% support prohibiting crypto firms from offering interest-like rewards on stablecoins if they could draw deposits from local banks.
• Consumer digital asset adoption remains low in the survey: 17% currently own digital assets, 30% have ever owned them, and 59% say they are not relevant to daily financial life.

Executive summary

The American Bankers Association released survey findings on 27 October 2026, conducted by Morning Consult on its behalf and unveiled at the ABA's 2026 Annual Convention. The research covers consumer attitudes toward AI agents handling personal finances and toward pending…

Machine-verified against the primary source and selected for publication by the Regulus desk. Not individually read by an editor. Lead briefings and anything our checks flag always are — how we review.