- RBC CEO Dave McKay said the bank is weighing whether to block Meta’s Muse AI agent from accessing customer account information.
- McKay cited consumer protection and liability: \”You have to protect that consumer and then we’re liable for that as an organization.\”
- RBC would join Schwab, JPMorgan, Citi, and Bank of America, which have already restricted AI agents from moving money or logging in with user credentials.
- Amazon separately blocked Muse from its platform in September 2026 over unauthorized access and data-scraping concerns.
What Happened
Royal Bank of Canada CEO Dave McKay said the bank is considering blocking Meta’s personal AI agent Muse from accessing customer account data, speaking on Bloomberg Surveillance (Oct 20, 2026). “You have to protect that consumer and then we’re liable for that as an organization,” McKay said.
Why It Matters
RBC’s stance adds a major Canadian bank to a growing list of financial institutions pushing back on personal AI agents handling account access. Schwab, JPMorgan, Citi, and Bank of America have already moved to block AI agents like Muse from logging in with user passwords or initiating money movement, citing liability if an agent makes an unauthorized transaction.
Technical Details
Meta launched Muse in September as a personal agent for email, travel, and calendar tasks. Through a connection to financial data company Plaid, users can link bank accounts so Muse can explain balances, transactions, and investments. That integration is the specific access point banks are now reconsidering.
Who’s Affected
Amazon separately blocked Muse from its platform in September 2026, citing policy violations tied to unauthorized access, credential handling, and data scraping. The pattern suggests banks and platforms are treating consumer-facing AI agents as a liability risk distinct from enterprise AI tools, regardless of the underlying model’s capability.
What’s Next
McKay did not give a timeline for a final decision. The broader standoff between financial institutions and personal AI agents follows Muse’s rapid growth to 500,000 users and Meta’s continued expansion of the Muse product line, raising the question of whether Meta will build bank-specific safeguards or cede that access entirely.
