Payments In The Age Of AI Agents

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At a speech delivered at Sibos 2026, Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller discussed how AI could support cross-border payments and enable agents to shop and pay for consumers. He described agentic commerce as an early-stage development and said delegated purchasing will require stronger trust mechanisms and guardrails.

Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said AI could help payment providers screen suspicious transactions and optimize cross-border transfers, while AI agents may eventually make purchases for consumers. In a speech delivered at Sibos 2026 on September 29, he characterized agentic commerce as being in an early phase and said systems that let agents pay autonomously will need stronger safeguards.

Waller described the payments industry as an early adopter of AI, pointing to its use of machine learning in payment-fraud detection and large language models in reconciliation. He said LLMs could improve sanctions screening and anti-money-laundering systems by reducing false-positive alerts, citing research without providing study details in the speech. Fewer false alerts could let teams focus on higher-risk cases and reduce delays for legitimate payments, he said.

For cross-border transactions, Waller also identified possible AI uses in choosing payment routes and managing foreign-exchange conversion and liquidity. These tasks involve balancing cost, speed and reliability across multiple jurisdictions. He said AI agents could help with the necessary search and optimization if they receive suitable data and criteria. He expects LLMs to augment, rather than replace, faster traditional anomaly-detection methods.

Waller distinguished between two forms of agentic commerce. In an agent-assisted purchase, an AI helps a customer find products while the customer makes the decision and completes payment. In an agent-delegated purchase, a customer authorizes an agent to shop and pay within set limits. One example he gave was a pre-funded virtual card an agent could use to buy groceries based on past purchases. He said consumer-to-business transactions are expected to be an early use case, with assisted shopping likely to precede more autonomous spending.

AI Could Change Payment Checks and Purchases

The developments Waller described could affect both how payments are authorized and protected and who, or what, initiates them. Better screening and routing could reduce friction in some cross-border transactions, while automated shopping could shift parts of the buying process from consumers to software agents.

Delegated purchasing also changes the questions payment providers must address. A consumer may authorize an agent to act, but providers and merchants still need workable ways to verify that authority, enforce spending limits and handle mistakes or disputed transactions. Waller said the greater risk of unintended purchases in the delegated model makes trust mechanisms and guardrails more important. His speech raises these design issues but does not set out a specific standard or policy.

There is a security trade-off as well. Waller warned that AI could increase the volume and sophistication of cyberattacks on connected payment systems. He also described potential defensive uses, including threat detection and finding software vulnerabilities. Because operators must protect a broad attack surface while attackers may need only one weak point, he urged the industry to proceed deliberately.

From Fraud Detection to Agentic Commerce

Waller’s remarks build on an established role for AI in payments. Financial firms have used machine learning to detect payment fraud, and some adopted large language models for reconciliation and related work. His speech shifts attention from those operational uses to AI agents that can plan and carry out multistep tasks, potentially including purchases.

Earlier in the summer, Waller said he hosted a Federal Reserve industry roundtable on agentic commerce. He reported that market participants viewed the field as early-stage, while agreeing that it could reshape commerce and payments if adoption grows. Consumers might use general-purpose agents from AI firms, merchant-specific agents or, eventually, personal assistants, he said.

The speech also placed AI alongside discussion of stablecoins and cross-border payments, but its focus was the distinct role AI might play in screening, security and transaction optimization. Waller’s remarks are an account of potential uses and concerns, not an announcement that a particular payment system or agent has been adopted.

“I expect LLMs to augment, rather than replace, faster, more traditional anomaly detection methods.”

— Christopher Waller, Federal Reserve governor

Adoption, Safeguards and Performance Remain Open

Waller did not specify when agent-delegated shopping might reach broad consumer use, how quickly adoption could scale or which technical and commercial standards would govern it. The speech also did not name a shared method for setting spending limits, confirming consumer authorization, or resolving purchases an agent makes in error. Those issues remain open as trust mechanisms are developed.

The speech described research indicating that LLMs can reduce false-positive alerts but did not identify the studies, provide figures or quantify results for payment providers. It likewise offered no measured estimates of cost, speed or security gains from AI-based cross-border routing. The stated benefits are potential uses, not reported outcomes from a named deployment.

Waller warned that AI can support cyberattacks as well as defenses, but did not quantify the threat to payment systems or point to a specific incident in his remarks. How providers balance faster processing with oversight and resilience remains a developing issue.

Payment Firms Face Design Decisions

The next steps are likely to come through work by payment firms, merchants, AI providers and financial institutions on authorization, security and consumer protections. Waller did not announce a timetable, new Federal Reserve rule or specific follow-up program in the speech.

For cross-border payments, providers will need to test whether AI improves screening and routing in real operating conditions, including how it performs when data are incomplete or threat patterns change. For agentic commerce, the practical test is whether agents can follow a consumer’s instructions reliably and whether a payment can be challenged or corrected when they do not.

Further industry discussions and real-world deployments may clarify which safeguards and standards are adopted. Until then, Waller’s message is that AI may offer useful payment tools, but autonomous spending and interconnected payment infrastructure require careful attention to risk.

Key Questions

What did Christopher Waller say about AI and payments?

He said AI could help with fraud and illicit-finance screening, cyber defense and cross-border payment routing. He also discussed agents that may search for products and, with authorization, complete purchases.

What is agentic commerce?

Agentic commerce is the use of AI agents in shopping and payments. In an assisted model, the customer decides and pays; in a delegated model, an agent can make purchases under instructions or limits set by the customer.

Is AI-agent shopping already widely used?

Waller said market participants view agentic commerce as being in an early phase. His speech did not provide adoption figures or a timetable for widespread use.

What risks did Waller identify?

He warned that AI could make cyberattacks more frequent or sophisticated and that delegated agents could make unintended purchases. He said the more autonomous model needs stronger trust mechanisms and guardrails.

Did Waller announce new payment rules?

No. The speech discussed possible applications, risks and industry questions; it did not announce a new Federal Reserve rule, standard or implementation schedule.

Source: primary