➡️ https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/bu.....-concerns/

Dean

As security concerns over AI mount, regulators and banks have boosted scrutiny of AI agents from social media sites and other platforms. At a conference earlier on Tuesday, Canada’s top banking regulator said he is ramping up oversight of AI practices at the country’s largest lenders, but would stop short of barring them from allowing customers to use AI agents, semi-autonomous AI entities designed to carry out instructions from humans.

Customers can authorize AI agents, such as Meta Platforms Inc.’s Muse, to access their bank accounts, transaction history and credit card data to analyze spending patterns and make recommendations.

RBC conducted a security review of AI agent technology and its functionality, which informed its decision, the bank said Tuesday evening in an internal memo seen by The Globe and Mail.

“While we appreciate the benefits of using AI to save time, nothing is more important than the security of client information,” RBC head of technology and operations Naim Kazmi and head of personal banking Erica Nielsen said in the memo.

“While we recognize the potential of agentic AI to assist customers, we know that third-party personal AI agents accessing banking systems can create unacceptable customer risk, including acting beyond customer expectations or creating liability exposure.”

RBC did not elaborate in the memo on which tools fell into the category of “third-party personal” AI agents.

U.S.-based banks JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Charles Schwab Corp. recently said they are blocking or limiting outside AI agents’ access to their customers’ data. RBC is the first Canadian bank to block the use of external AI agents on its sites, but Bank of Montreal chief executive Darryl White said at an event last week that customers should not share sensitive banking data with AI agents.

Canada’s banks have been investing heavily in AI systems. RBC ranked third globally for AI adoption for the fifth consecutive year, according to a recent report by AI benchmarking platform Evident.

Lenders are betting on the technology to boost productivity and help generate more revenue. But the rapid adoption of the technology has also prompted concerns over cybersecurity, financial crime and privacy.

In an interview on Bloomberg TV last week, RBC CEO Dave McKay said the bank was considering blocking Muse from accessing the bank’s customer information.

RBC will begin work on blocking these platforms immediately, the lender said in the memo.

“We understand that this may be disappointing for the small portion of our clients who use these tools, and we make this decision with the safety and security of our clients and systems at the forefront,” RBC spokesperson Jeff Lanthier said in a statement.
Open this photo in gallery:

OSFI superintendent Peter Routledge, shown in Ottawa in 2023, said customers could choose to switch financial services providers based on whether they want to use AI agents.Dave Chan/The Globe and Mail

Peter Routledge, the superintendent of the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions, said Tuesday he would ultimately leave the decision on AI agents up to individual banks, so long as they are following the regulator’s guidelines.

“I don’t think we would get down to the level of you should do it this way, and so everyone should do it this way. I don’t think that’s not our highest and best use,” Mr. Routledge told reporters during the Tech Festival Canada. “Where I stand right now on third-party risk and AI is we’re more principles-based.”

Mr. Routledge said customers could choose to switch financial services providers based on whether or not they want to use these types of services.

Earlier this month, Mr. Routledge said OSFI is planning to implement tighter guidelines on AI as threats from agents and Anthropic’s powerful Claude Mythos model accelerate risks among the country’s banks. In the spring, the regulator published guidelines for banks on agentic AI that ask whether the bank’s connection to a third party puts the institution or its customers at risk.

Global financial watchdog the Financial Stability Board has recommended that financial institutions reinforce oversight of their AI systems, including restricting agents’ access to sensitive information.

“To the extent a board of directors and their CEO decide now we’ve got to mitigate this risk from agents that are perhaps issuing transaction instructions on behalf of a human being – maybe that board and that CEO decides that’s too risky,” Mr. Routledge said.

“Provided it’s done in a responsible way, that to me is indicative of sound risk management.”

Mr. Routledge’s seven-year term as the head of OSFI will come to a close in June, 2028, unless he is reappointed. In the lead-up to that deadline, he said his most significant tasks will be to develop a framework for managing AI risks and changing OSFI’s culture to be more open to risk.

The next superintendent’s term, which will run from 2028 to 2035, will have to focus on major forces that will transform financial services, Mr. Routledge said. That includes the digitalization of money and the arrival of AI.

He said the financial system in 2035 will look vastly different than the one that exists today.

The next superintendent “is going to have to figure out how to supervise in that period of immense change and deliver both resilience – which Canadians want from their financial system – and Canadians want more competition,” Mr. Routledge said.

“They want more services for lower costs, and they want a financial system that’s fuelling growth at a time of tremendous economic transition for the country.”

https://www.theglobeandmail.co.....f-comments

Top Dogg said
Hi,

Are there any monthly fees associated with this promotional interest rate offer?

Thanks,
TD  

When the promo offer ends and you need to get your funds out without the $5.00 fee, open a free Day-to-day Savings account, not the chequing account by the same name. It has one free transaction per month. Pay close attention to your statement issue date as it's based on the first letter of your surname. That's the same cycle your free transaction works on. If you have accounts elsewhere that have EFT functionality, do a pull out the Day-to-day savings account when removing your money from RBC and make sure you don't close the e-Savings account before all your interest is paid out.

$5 for each debit that's neither (1) a self-serve transfer to another RBC Royal Bank personal deposit account in the same name nor (2) the one free ATM cash withdrawal each month.

The promo is only for one's first ever RBC High Interest eSavings Account.

Are there any monthly fees associated with this promotional interest rate offer?

Thanks,
TD

mustang said
Earn 4.60% interest1,2 for 3 months when you open your High Interest Savings account with RBC for the first time. Offer expires 3pm EST on October 27, 2026  

Do their HISA promo offers ever have a true end date, seems they are forever replaced by another similar offer, been that way for years. It would be newsworthy if their HISA promo offer was available to existing clients and not necessarily targeted. Mind you, I suppose the whole purpose is to reel in new clients, the existing one's have been bought and paid for so why bother.

TeraKaktos said
During COVID-19 interest rates, RBC actually gave me enticing/actually competitive at the time special GIC rate offers  

Yeah, you are right. I see in Sept 2023 I had one two year GIC at 5.75% and two years ago I was receiving 5.25%. So they did offer some good rates for quite some time. I only have the one non-registered left with them now maturing in July at 4.7%

A limited Time Offer.....Your Special GIC rates....Non redeemable One yr GIC for 2.75% and a two year for 2.95%!!

Really generous of them.

* Most importantly arbitration is biased in favor of corporate interests. According to a study by Public Citizen which examined almost 20,000 arbitration decisions, the corporate party won a massive 94% of the time. In one case, an arbitrator awarded $11,000 to a debt collector against a woman who owed no money whatsoever, but who had the same name as a woman who did.

* Arbitration is often pay to play. If you bring a suit in federal court, you pay a $350 filing fee, and that's it. Arbitrators, on the other hand, frequently offer an a la carte menu. If you want to file a motion, that's $500. If you want a live hearing, $1500. If you want a written explanation of the arbitrator's ruling, $1500 more. In some cases, consumers have been charged $10,000 or more for the privilege of losing their case before a biased arbitrator.

* Arbitration is secret. Except in California, arbitrators are not required to publicly disclose their decisions. Because they can keep their past history from the public, many arbitration companies market their services to corporations by highlighting their pro-business bias, even as they lobby Congress with claims that they are just as fair and balanced as real live judges.

This is exactly what Air Canada is trying to force cheated passengers to accept or face year-long delays in complaint resolution. In fairness, Canadian passengers would have the option to reject an arbitration - and go back to waiting.

AlainJF said

AlainJF said

Absolutely not.
In my experience, it's impossible to get confirmation from a client advisor or branch employee. I considered calling the RBC ombudsman to complain about my experience, but I ultimately decided to dedicate my time to more important matters. Clearly, the client advisors I contacted were working from home, kept me on hold several times for no reason, and wasted my time without providing an answer to my simple question. Unbelievable !  

Absolutely unbelievable... despite the fact that I was unable to get any confirmation for the special offer anywhere (at branch, call center, app, online banking message center, email, etc.)... Well, I got it: "Bonus deposit interest" on Apr 1st.

I made the math and the bonus is 4.05% (Total 4.6%).

If someone knows where to see the bonus rate and until what date, please share!  

It's the Star Chamber scenario e.g. "secretive proceedings".

"In modern times, legal or administrative bodies with strict, arbitrary rulings, no due process rights to those accused, and secretive proceedings are sometimes metaphorically called "star chambers"."