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Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller used a Sept. 29 speech at Sibos 2026 to discuss how AI could affect cross-border payments and purchases made by AI agents. He described potential efficiency and security benefits while stressing that agent-delegated shopping needs stronger trust mechanisms and guardrails.
Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said artificial intelligence could help improve cross-border payment screening and routing, while the growth of AI agents that make purchases will depend on trust mechanisms and guardrails. In a speech at Sibos 2026 in Miami on September 29, he described agentic commerce as an early-stage development that could reshape payments if adoption grows.
Waller said the payments industry has already applied machine learning to fraud detection and large language models to tasks such as payment reconciliation. He described AI agents as systems that can use large language models to plan and carry out multistep processes, including transactions. His speech examined potential uses and risks; it did not announce a new Federal Reserve policy or payment system.
For cross-border payments, Waller pointed to sanctions screening and anti-money-laundering checks as areas where language models may improve accuracy. He cited research showing that they can reduce false-positive alerts, allowing staff to focus on more complex cases and reducing friction for legitimate transactions. He said such models should augment faster traditional anomaly detection, rather than replace it.
He also described AI as a possible tool for optimizing payment routes, currency conversion and liquidity decisions. These processes involve balancing cost, speed and reliability across jurisdictions. Waller said AI agents could help with that work when given appropriate data and criteria. He also warned that more capable AI could support cyberattacks, even as payment operators might use it to detect threats and identify software vulnerabilities.
Waller outlined two forms of agentic commerce. In agent-assisted shopping, an agent helps find products while the consumer chooses and pays. In agent-delegated shopping, the consumer authorizes the agent to make purchases within specified limits. He gave the example of an agent using a pre-funded virtual card to buy groceries based on past purchases. He said consumer-to-business purchases are expected to be the first use case, with assisted shopping preceding more autonomous delegation.
Payment Security and Buyer Control
The difference between an agent suggesting a purchase and making it is consequential for consumers and payment providers. Delegated agents may act quickly and across multiple steps, but purchases can be unintended if instructions, limits or identity checks fail. Waller said this model requires a more extensive buildout of trust mechanisms and guardrails. His speech did not specify a single technical or regulatory solution.
For cross-border transactions, better screening could help legitimate payments move with fewer false alarms, while optimization tools could help providers choose routes and currency conversions. Those potential gains sit alongside cyber risk: Waller warned that interconnected payment infrastructure could suffer major disruption from a successful attack. The policy challenge he set out is to capture potential efficiency gains while keeping payment systems secure and preserving meaningful control over transactions.
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From Payment AI to Agent Shopping
Waller placed agentic commerce within a longer pattern of technology use in payments. He said the industry has used machine learning to combat fraud and adopted large language models for reconciliation and related work. His focus at Sibos was a further step: agents that can transact autonomously, as well as AI tools that could assist payment infrastructure.
At an industry roundtable hosted at the Federal Reserve earlier in the summer, participants discussed agentic commerce. Waller said market participants broadly viewed it as being in an early phase, though it could significantly affect commerce and payments if adoption scales. He identified two potential routes to consumer use: general-purpose agents from AI firms and agents offered by individual merchants. Personal AI assistants could also become a way for consumers to access these services.
“I expect LLMs to augment, rather than replace, faster, more traditional anomaly detection methods.”
— Christopher Waller, Federal Reserve governor, at Sibos 2026
Guardrails and Adoption Remain Open
Waller’s speech identified risks and potential uses but did not set out a timetable for adoption or a detailed design for agent safeguards. It remains unclear which parties will define how consumers grant, limit and revoke an agent’s authority, how disputed purchases would be handled, or what standards providers might use to verify an agent’s instructions.
The scale of any benefits is also uncertain. Waller described potential improvements in screening, cybersecurity and payment optimization, but the speech did not quantify expected cost or speed changes. Agentic commerce is still at an early stage, and the pace at which consumers and merchants adopt delegated purchasing is not established.
From Early Trials to Payment Rules
The next developments will depend on whether payment providers, merchants and AI firms build services that let agents transact within clear limits. Waller’s remarks point to trust and security as issues the industry will need to address as it tests more autonomous purchasing. His speech did not announce a specific follow-up Federal Reserve action or deadline.
For now, Waller’s account offers a view of the opportunities and questions facing the sector: AI may assist existing payment checks and routing, while agents could take on more shopping tasks over time. Whether those uses scale, and what protections accompany them, remains to be seen.
Key Questions
What did Christopher Waller say about AI and payments?
He discussed how AI could support cross-border payment screening, cybersecurity and routing, and how AI agents might make purchases. He also described the need for safeguards as agents receive authority to pay on a consumer’s behalf.
What is the difference between agent-assisted and agent-delegated shopping?
With agent-assisted shopping, the agent helps find products while the consumer chooses and pays. With agent-delegated shopping, the consumer authorizes the agent to make purchases within constraints.
Did Waller announce a new Federal Reserve policy?
No new policy was announced in the speech. Waller discussed possible uses of AI and questions for the payments industry at Sibos 2026.
What remains uncertain about AI agents making payments?
The speech did not specify common standards for authorization, spending limits, disputed purchases or revoking an agent’s authority. The pace and scale of consumer adoption also remain unclear.
Source: primary
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