Bank stocks just finished a rough stretch. Ebrahim Poonawala, head of North America banks at Bank of America (NYSE:BAC | BAC Price Prediction), told CNBC the industry must face an uncomfortable idea: “Banks need to prepare for some degree of self cannibalization.”
Meta’s Muse Put Financial Stocks on Notice
The catalyst was Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) and Muse, its new AI agent. The Wall Street Journal reported on September 22, 2026 that Muse targets financial stocks. Yahoo Finance and Barron’s followed with coverage of threats to banks and insurers and brokerage stocks. Wells Fargo and other bank stocks fell as Muse added fuel to AI fears. The narrative shifted fast from product launch to a question about who controls the customer relationship in finance.
Why an Agent Threatens Bank Economics
Poonawala’s key distinction: a chatbot can only tell a customer they could earn more on their cash, while an agent can act on it. An AI agent is software authorized to take actions on a user’s behalf, such as moving money. What an agent eliminates is the friction required to move money.
“The ability of AI to provide better liquidity management on certain types of deposits, taking out some areas of friction where maybe banks benefit from a margin or a revenue standpoint. I think that’s real,” Poonawala said.
Deposits sitting in low-yielding accounts are profitable for banks. Anything that makes money move more easily squeezes that profit. JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) has 63.7M active mobile customers and 5,135 branches, according to its second-quarter 2026 earnings filing. That consumer layer is most exposed if an outside agent sits between the customer and the account.
His Brake on the Panic
Poonawala also pushed back on a sudden departure. “We do expect this process to be evolutionary, given the need for trust, security or cyber attacks. I don’t think folks are going to rush into providing access to AI agents wreaking havoc with their financial accounts.” Giving software permission to move savings is a far bigger step than asking it a question.
Offense Is the Best Defense, He Says
His prescription: “Offense is the best defense. Banks have massive insights into AI technology. Banks need to prepare for some degree of self cannibalization.” He sees “a world where you could log in to your Chase account, and maybe you have your own AI agent providing you, helping you with services around checking, savings, credit.”
How Bank Stocks Actually Traded This Week
Prices below are as of the after-hours session on September 25, 2026. The group includes Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) and PNC Financial Services (NYSE:PNC).
| Bank | Price | Past Week | Year to Date | Latest Session |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| JPMorgan | $343.12 | -1.87% | +7.98% | +0.06% |
| Bank of America | $56.71 | -1.77% | +4.77% | +0.07% |
| Wells Fargo | $82.90 | -3.74% | -9.58% | -0.10% |
| PNC | $224.24 | -3.83% | +9.96% | -0.60% |
All four declined over the week. Three remain higher on the year, with Wells Fargo the exception. Over the past month, Bank of America is down 8.41% and PNC is down 8.35%, so pressure predates this week.
What the Evidence Shows So Far
The selloff is real, and the process Poonawala describes is plausible. No bank has reported deposit margin pressure from AI agents, the products are new, and the analyst describes the timeline as evolutionary. That leaves the concern open for investors to track in upcoming earnings.
Poonawala’s prescription puts banks in an uncomfortable spot: build the tool that erodes your own margins, because the alternative is someone else building it. Executing it will test how willing the largest banks are to trade today’s friction profits for control of tomorrow’s customer.