Banks seek to rein in soaring AI agent costs, McKinsey says
XLF•Banks are trying to curb AI agent costs, with token spending potentially reaching 20% of total labor costs, a McKinsey report says. The report expects AI agents to become widely used by retail banking customers within three years.
1. Costs prompt tighter controls
Banks worldwide are trying to curb the cost of AI agents as spending on the tokens that power them could reach 20% of total labor costs, McKinsey’s Global Banking Annual Review says. Some banks have created AI FinOps teams to control spending, while increasingly focusing deployments on areas with the strongest expected returns.
2. Customers adopt AI
McKinsey expects AI agents to become widely used by retail banking customers within three years. In a survey of 46,000 customers worldwide, 72% of AI users said they would let a banking agent carry out one financial task, with autonomous approvals capped at $500. Most banks block external AI agents from authorizing transactions within their systems.
