Fed's Waller Outlines AI Agent Challenges for Payments System

Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller took the stage at Sibos 2026 in Miami, Florida, to address one of the financial sector's most pressing emerging questions: how artificial intelligence agents are beginning to interact with — and potentially transform — the global payments ecosystem.

Waller's remarks, delivered to an international audience of payments and banking professionals, centered on the operational and regulatory dimensions of AI-driven transactions. As autonomous software agents gain the ability to initiate, authorize, and settle payments without direct human intervention at each step, traditional compliance frameworks face new stress points that policymakers are only beginning to map.

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The speech signals growing attention from U.S. central bank officials to the intersection of machine-learning automation and financial infrastructure. AI agents operating across payment rails raise core questions about accountability — specifically, who bears responsibility when an autonomous system makes an erroneous or fraudulent transaction, and how existing consumer protection rules apply to non-human actors.

For financial institutions and fintech developers, the Fed's engagement with this topic at a flagship global conference like Sibos carries weight. It suggests that regulatory guidance around AI in payments may be moving from an abstract future concern to a near-term policy priority, even as the technology itself continues to evolve rapidly.

Continue reading at FRB: Speeches.