TORONTO
The chief executive of the Bank of Montreal says people should not trust artificial intelligence agents with their personal banking information.
Speaking at the Toronto Global Forum on Wednesday, Darryl White expressed concern that AI is advancing faster than regulations and safeguards for the technology.
"Don't give your banking username and password. Don't give your credit card. Don't give your social insurance number. Don't give your PIN. These are not protected," White said.
His remarks follow comments from Royal Bank of Canada CEO Dave McKay on Tuesday, who said his bank is considering blocking Meta's popular Muse AI agent from accessing client data.
"It's something I'm thinking about, absolutely," McKay told Bloomberg News in a television interview. "We're not going to make a rash decision, but we have to balance the needs of a consumer with the privacy and safety of the system."
With a client's authorization, AI agents like Meta's Muse and OpenAI's ChatGPT can connect to bank accounts and credit cards to monitor balances and transaction histories, and share tips on spending habits.
White said people have become too comfortable sharing personal data online. "We've grown up for 25 years in an e-commerce system where we've got comfortable," he said. "I think we've got a ways to go on educating people."
Last week, the CEOs of JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Charles Schwab said they are blocking or limiting outside AI agents from using their client's data.
Defence industry needs support
White also used his forum appearance to call for more support for Canadian defence companies, as Ottawa plans to spend $500 billion on defence over the next decade.
"If you are going to have 70 per cent of the procurement directed at Canadian companies, a lot of those companies don't exist yet," he said. "We have a role to play in helping develop those companies from the early stage all the way through the mid-stage."
He said the government, as the customer, can help provide certainty for businesses. "The confidence level on achieving these goals goes way up and that customer can play a role in off-take certainty, on helping with private partnerships and with the financial ecosystem to create more certainty," White said.
BMO on Wednesday said it is appointing Michael Bonner, head of the bank's personal and business banking in Canada, as the enterprise chair of its Canadian Defence Sector segment.
Interest in Canada's defence industry is "rocketing higher," a BMO report said in early October. Members of the Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries have risen to more than 1,700 from around 600 members two years ago.
Despite the positive outlook for defence and other sectors, White warned of ongoing economic volatility, particularly due to trade tensions with the United States. e2gold.ca reported in October that Prime Minister Mark Carney and U.S. President Donald Trump discussed trade as American officials accused Canada of election interference.
"We should all fasten our seatbelts for an ongoing period of volatility," White said. "For those who come and say to you, 'When are we going to get to certainty and when is the volatility going to end?' It ain't going to end."
He said the next couple of years are going to be "bumpy," but the 10-year outlook for Canada looks brighter than before.
This story was written by the e2gold.ca newsroom from reporting by CBC News and Financial Post. Quotes are checked word for word against that reporting.