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Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller used a September 29 speech at Sibos 2026 to discuss AI’s potential role in cross-border payments and agentic commerce. He said AI could help with fraud screening, cybersecurity and payment routing, while autonomous purchases require stronger trust mechanisms and guardrails.
Federal Reserve Governor Christopher J. Waller said artificial intelligence could help improve cross-border payment security and efficiency, while warning that autonomous shopping agents will need stronger safeguards as they gain the ability to make purchases. 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 described several possible roles for AI in cross-border payments. Large language models could improve the accuracy of sanctions screening and anti-money-laundering systems, he said, citing research that found they can reduce false-positive alerts. That could let staff focus on higher-risk cases and reduce delays for legitimate transactions. He expects these tools to augment faster, traditional anomaly detection, not replace it.
AI agents could also help optimize the choices involved in moving money between countries, including payment routes, foreign exchange conversion and liquidity management. Waller framed these as potential efficiency gains dependent on agents having suitable data and criteria. He also noted that AI can support defensive cybersecurity work, even as it may increase the sophistication and volume of attacks against payment systems.
Waller outlined two forms of agentic commerce. In agent-assisted shopping, an AI tool helps a customer search for products, but the customer makes the purchase and handles payment. In agent-delegated shopping, the customer authorizes an agent to buy on their behalf, subject to instructions or limits. One example he gave was an agent using a pre-funded virtual card to order groceries based on past purchases.
Autonomous Shopping Raises Payment Risks
As payment decisions move from people to software, businesses and financial institutions will need ways to establish what an agent is allowed to do and how a transaction can be checked. Waller said delegated purchasing carries a greater risk of unintended transactions than agent-assisted shopping, making trust mechanisms and guardrails a central issue rather than an optional feature.
The stakes extend beyond consumer purchases. Cross-border payment networks are highly interconnected, and Waller warned that a successful cyberattack on such infrastructure could disrupt international commerce. AI may assist defenders with threat detection and vulnerability management, but attackers need to exploit only one weakness while operators must protect a broad attack surface. The speech presents AI as a potential tool for both improving operations and increasing exposure to risk—not as a guarantee of safer or cheaper payments.
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From Fraud Screening to Agentic Commerce
Waller placed the new discussion within a longer history of AI use in payments. He said the industry has applied machine learning to payment fraud and adopted large language models for tasks such as payment reconciliation. His speech followed a prior Sibos address on emerging technologies in global payments, but this year he focused on AI and the infrastructure needed for agents to transact.
He said market participants at an industry roundtable hosted at the Federal Reserve earlier in the summer broadly viewed agentic commerce as being in its early phase. Consumer-to-business purchases are expected to be the first use cases, with agent-assisted shopping likely to precede more autonomous delegated activity. Agents may be offered by general-purpose AI firms, merchants or, as personal assistants develop, other providers.
“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 Safeguards Remain Open
Waller did not give a timeline for widespread agent-delegated commerce or quantify its likely effect on payment costs, transaction speed or fraud. The speech describes potential applications, not proof that they will deliver those outcomes at scale. It also does not set out specific technical standards for authorization, dispute resolution or consumer protection when an agent makes an unintended purchase.
The source text available for this report ends while Waller is discussing the real-time knowledge agents need. It does not provide further detail on what data access, consent arrangements or liability rules he addressed. Those points remain unresolved here, as do the pace of adoption and the effectiveness of proposed guardrails.
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Trust Rules Will Shape Deployment
The next phase will depend on how payment providers, merchants and AI firms build and test systems that limit agent authority and make transactions traceable. Waller’s remarks point to a progression from search assistance toward delegated purchasing, but he did not announce a Federal Reserve policy change, implementation date or formal standard.
For now, the speech serves as a description of emerging opportunities and risks. Further developments to watch include the safeguards providers offer, how consumers authorize purchases, and whether AI tools demonstrate reliable performance in screening, routing and cybersecurity. Until those details are established, claims about broad improvements to payments remain prospective.
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Key Questions
What did Christopher Waller say about AI in payments?
He discussed AI’s potential to assist with cross-border fraud screening, cybersecurity and payment routing, and examined how agents could make online purchases for consumers. He also stressed the risks of cyberattacks and unintended purchases.
What is the difference between agent-assisted and agent-delegated commerce?
With agent-assisted commerce, an AI helps find products but the customer chooses and pays. With agent-delegated commerce, the customer authorizes an agent to shop and make payments within set instructions or limits.
Did Waller announce new Federal Reserve rules for AI payments?
No. The speech discussed possible uses, risks and the need for safeguards; it did not announce a new rule, standard or implementation date.
How could AI affect cross-border payments?
Waller said AI could potentially improve sanctions and anti-money-laundering screening, support cybersecurity defenses and help optimize payment routes, currency conversion and liquidity. These were described as potential applications, not guaranteed results.
Source: primary
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