TL;DR
Get your next haul delivered free with Prime
- Fast, free delivery on millions of items
- Prime Video, Amazon Music and more included
- Member-only deals all year
Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said AI could help improve cross-border payment screening and routing, while also creating cybersecurity risks. In a speech at Sibos 2026, he described agent-led shopping as an early-stage development that would require stronger safeguards before consumers delegate purchases and payments to AI.
Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said artificial intelligence could help make cross-border payments more efficient and secure, while warning that AI-driven cyber threats and autonomous shopping require careful safeguards. In a speech delivered at Sibos 2026 in Miami on September 29, he described AI agents that can plan and carry out transactions as a developing technology, not yet a mature form of commerce.
Waller pointed to potential uses in sanctions screening and anti-money-laundering systems. He said large language models can use context to improve the accuracy of screening and that research has found they can reduce false-positive alerts. That could free staff to focus on complex, higher-risk cases and reduce delays for legitimate payments. He expects these models to augment, rather than replace, faster anomaly-detection methods.
AI may also help providers choose how to route cross-border payments by balancing cost, speed and reliability, and manage decisions about foreign-exchange conversion and liquidity. Waller said AI agents could assist with these optimization problems when given appropriate data and criteria. He also warned that AI may increase the volume and sophistication of cyberattacks, while offering potential defensive uses such as detecting threats and identifying software vulnerabilities.
Waller described two forms of agentic commerce. In agent-assisted shopping, an AI helps with product discovery while the consumer makes the purchase and handles payment. In agent-delegated shopping, the consumer authorizes an agent to buy and pay within specified limits. A possible example is an agent using a pre-funded virtual card to order groceries based on past purchases. Waller said consumer-to-business transactions are expected to be an early use case, with assisted shopping preceding more autonomous delegation.
AI Could Change Payment Screening and Shopping
The developments Waller described could affect how quickly cross-border payments move and how providers manage fraud and compliance alerts. Fewer false positives could mean less friction for legitimate transactions, while better routing could help providers weigh cost, speed and reliability. These are potential benefits, not results he said have already been achieved across payment systems.
Delegating purchases to software also changes who initiates a transaction and how consumers control it. If an agent misunderstands instructions or acts outside a user’s expectations, the result could be an unwanted purchase or payment. The systems used to identify a customer, set spending limits and resolve errors will matter to consumers, merchants and payment providers as these tools develop.
Cybersecurity is another concern because payment networks are interconnected. Waller said operators face an imbalance: attackers may need to exploit one vulnerability, while providers must defend a broad attack surface. The speech presents AI as both a possible defensive aid and a potential source of greater risk, underscoring the need to test security as adoption grows.
AI-powered cross-border payment security software
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
From Payment Automation to AI Agents
Waller said payments companies have used machine learning to combat fraud and adopted large language models for tasks such as payment reconciliation. His speech builds on that history by considering agents capable of planning and executing multiple steps, including transactions, rather than assisting with a single back-office task.
He also connected the discussion to cross-border payments, where providers must coordinate across jurisdictions and make choices involving currency conversion, liquidity and payment routes. At a Federal Reserve industry roundtable earlier in the summer, participants discussed agentic commerce. Waller said market participants broadly viewed it as being in an early phase, though adoption at scale could reshape commerce and payments.
“I expect LLMs to augment, rather than replace, faster, more traditional anomaly detection methods.”
— Christopher Waller, Federal Reserve governor, speaking at Sibos 2026
Adoption and Consumer Safeguards Remain Open
Waller’s speech described potential applications and concerns; it did not provide evidence that AI has already delivered specific efficiency gains across cross-border payment networks. The remarks also do not establish how widely agent-led purchases are being used, how quickly adoption may grow, or which safeguards will become standard.
The available speech text ends while discussing the need for AI agents to have broad, real-time knowledge. It does not set out the full technical or policy framework for authorizing transactions, verifying user intent, limiting spending, handling disputes or assigning responsibility for errors. Those details remain open in the material provided.
Trust Rules Will Shape Agentic Payments
Waller’s remarks point to further work by the payments industry on the trust mechanisms and guardrails needed for agents to make purchases on a consumer’s behalf. The speech does not announce a timetable, a new Federal Reserve rule or a specific implementation plan.
For cross-border payments, providers will need to evaluate whether AI screening and routing tools work reliably with appropriate data, and how they can be secured against misuse. As agent-assisted and delegated shopping develop, the practical questions will include how consumers set limits, confirm or revoke authority, and challenge transactions they did not intend. Waller’s speech leaves those questions for continuing industry and policy discussion.
Key Questions
What did Christopher Waller say about AI and payments?
He said AI could help with cross-border payment screening, cybersecurity and routing, and discussed how AI agents may make online purchases. He also warned about cyber risks and the need for safeguards.
What is agentic commerce?
It is the use of AI agents in shopping and payments. An agent may assist with product search while the consumer pays, or act more autonomously if the consumer delegates purchasing authority.
Is AI already improving cross-border payments?
Waller described potential benefits, including fewer false-positive screening alerts and better routing decisions. His speech did not establish that those gains have been achieved broadly across payment systems.
Why does delegated AI shopping need safeguards?
An agent authorized to buy and pay could make an unintended purchase if it misreads instructions or operates outside a consumer’s expectations. Waller said delegated commerce carries higher risks and requires more extensive trust mechanisms and guardrails.
Source: primary
Fall Picks
fall essentials
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
