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Federal Reserve Governor Christopher J. Waller said AI could help payment providers screen transactions, defend systems and optimize cross-border routing. In a speech at Sibos 2026, he also described agentic commerce as an early-stage development, with autonomous purchases requiring stronger trust mechanisms and safeguards.
Federal Reserve Governor Christopher J. Waller said artificial intelligence could improve cross-border payment screening and routing, while AI agents that buy goods for consumers will require stronger safeguards. In a speech at Sibos 2026 in Miami, he described agentic commerce as early-stage and raised questions about how it could change payments as adoption grows.
Waller said large language models could help sanctions screening and anti-money-laundering systems interpret transaction context, potentially reducing false-positive alerts. That could free investigators to focus on complex or higher-risk cases and reduce delays for legitimate payments. He said fast payment systems would still rely on traditional anomaly detection, with AI augmenting those methods.
He also outlined cybersecurity risks and potential defenses. AI may help threat actors increase the volume or sophistication of attacks, Waller said, while payment operators could use it to detect threats, manage exposure and find software vulnerabilities. He warned that interconnected payment infrastructure could face serious disruption from a successful attack, and said defenders face a broader challenge because they must protect AI agents by implementing strong security and guardrails across many systems and points of access.
Waller said AI agents could also help optimize cross-border payment decisions, including routing, foreign-exchange conversion and liquidity management, if given appropriate data and criteria, similar to how AI agents helped Gewerkton complete a two-day visual rebuild through optimized workflows. In commerce, he distinguished agent-assisted shopping, where consumers search with AI but choose and pay themselves, from agent-delegated shopping, where consumers authorize agents to shop and pay within set limits. He gave a grocery purchase using a pre-funded virtual card as an example of the latter.
Safeguards Shape Agent-Led Purchases
The distinction between assisted and delegated shopping changes who makes the purchase decision and who initiates payment. Delegation can reduce effort for consumers, but it also creates a risk of unintended purchases if an agent misunderstands instructions, acts on incomplete information or exceeds what a consumer intended.
Waller said the delegated model needs a more extensive buildout of trust mechanisms and guardrails. The speech points to a practical challenge for payment firms and merchants: make it possible to verify what an agent is allowed to do and keep transactions within those limits. Waller did not announce a new Federal Reserve policy or a specific technical standard.
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From Fraud Screening to Commerce
Waller situated agentic commerce within a longer history of payment firms adopting AI. He said the industry has used machine learning to combat payment fraud and was an early user of large language models for reconciliation and related tasks. Payment companies are now helping build infrastructure intended to let agents transact more widely.
At an industry roundtable hosted by the Federal Reserve earlier in summer 2026, participants broadly agreed that agentic commerce remained in its early phase, according to Waller. He described consumer-to-business purchases as the likely first wave, with assisted uses preceding more autonomous delegated transactions. He also identified general-purpose AI services and merchant-specific agents as two likely ways consumers may access shopping agents.
“I expect LLMs to augment, rather than replace, faster, more traditional anomaly detection methods.”
— Christopher J. Waller, Federal Reserve governor
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Adoption and Controls Remain Open
Waller did not provide adoption figures, a timetable for widespread agentic commerce or details of a common safeguards framework. It remains unclear how consumers, merchants and payment providers will assign responsibility when an agent makes an unintended purchase, or how permissions will be checked across different services.
The speech described potential benefits of AI screening and optimization but did not quantify their effects. Waller cited research indicating that language models can reduce false-positive alerts, but the speech did not give a specific rate or establish how results would vary across payment systems. The scale of both AI-enabled attacks and defensive gains also remains uncertain.
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Trust Rules Will Shape Expansion
The next developments will depend on how payment firms, AI providers and merchants build systems for consumer authorization, spending limits and transaction review. Waller said delegated commerce requires more trust mechanisms and guardrails; his speech did not set a deadline or announce a Federal Reserve program to deliver them.
Payment providers are also likely to continue evaluating AI for fraud and illicit-finance screening, cybersecurity and cross-border routing. Whether these tools improve speed, security or cost in live systems will depend on their performance and the data and controls available to operators.
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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 AI agents making purchases for consumers. He described agentic commerce as an early-stage development.
What is the difference between agent-assisted and agent-delegated commerce?
In assisted commerce, an AI helps a consumer search but the consumer decides and pays. In delegated commerce, the consumer authorizes an agent to shop and pay within specified limits.
Why does delegated shopping need additional safeguards?
An agent can make purchases without the consumer handling each step, raising the chance of an unintended transaction. Waller said this model requires more extensive trust mechanisms and guardrails.
Did Waller announce a new Federal Reserve rule for AI payments?
No. The speech discussed potential uses, risks and open questions; it did not announce a new rule, technical standard or implementation timetable.
Source: primary
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