New York's top financial regulator zeroing in on agentic commerce

New York regulators are turning their attention to 'agentic commerce.' This refers to AI agents that can automatically make purchases or financial decisions on behalf of consumers. For retailers and lenders, this signals a shift in how consumer protection laws will be applied to automated transactions. If your business uses AI to suggest financing terms or automate checkout, you need to pay attention. The New York Department of Financial Services wants to ensure that these automated systems don't bypass existing lending transparency laws. The core concern is accountability. When an AI bot signs a customer up for a buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) plan or a credit line, who is responsible if the terms are predatory? Regulators are making it clear that the merchant and the lender remain on the hook. You cannot use 'the AI made the decision' as a legal shield. This will likely lead to stricter rules on how AI discloses financing costs and interest rates to shoppers. Businesses should prepare for new compliance hurdles. You may soon need to prove that your automated sales bots are providing the same disclosures required of human staff. Transparency will be the top priority. If your financing platform uses automated decision-making, start reviewing your audit trails now. Regulators want to be able to see exactly how and why a financial product was offered to a bot-represented consumer.

Source: American Banker — Top News

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