A warning has been raised that large-scale deposit outflows from traditional banks could occur if personal AI assistants begin automatically moving users’ funds into accounts offering higher interest rates.

Business Insider reported on Sept. 28 that Apollo chief economist Torsten Slok said AI agents could shake banks’ low-cost deposit base as they optimise household cash yields.

Slok gave the example of a user asking an AI assistant such as Meta’s Muse how to increase cash returns. The assistant could determine the money is sitting in checking or savings accounts, then move it to or recommend moving it to a fintech account offering a higher interest rate. The nationwide average yields are about 0.1 percent a year for checking accounts and about 0.4 percent a year for savings accounts, while Adelphi offers up to 5 percent a year on some accounts.

Slok wrote that if all households optimise the return on their cash balances using AI agents, banks could lose a large portion of the low-cost deposits they use as a source of lending funds. If AI assistants make the same judgement at the same time, deposits could leave banks and move elsewhere in a rush.

The warning also aligns with Apollo’s business. Apollo is a large private equity manager that competes with banks in the corporate loan market. Its credit unit is worth $849 billion, and it has set a goal of increasing private credit assets under management to $1.2 trillion by 2029. Apollo did not provide additional comment.

In recent weeks, personal AI assistants such as Muse and Instinct have been used for everyday tasks such as ordering groceries or buying movie tickets. Users are showing moves to use such assistants to optimise personal finances as well. Meta and Instinct founder Noah Shin (노아 신) did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Companies have already begun responding. As requests from AI assistants surged, some companies started blocking access to services. Amazon prevented Muse from adding items to shopping carts, citing violations of its terms of use. Amazon also voiced concerns about how sensitive data are handled, saying Muse collects account data without identifying itself.