AI agents that log in without seeing your password: trust becomes the currency

1Password has launched a service that lets AI agents log into accounts without ever seeing the credentials: a digital key proves the agent's identity, the user confirms, the login is filled in. The launch comes as banks report automated agent activity in customer accounts that they cannot tell apart from unauthorised access (TechCrunch).

Payment networks are working on the same problem from the other side. Mastercard carried out its first agentic transaction in Swiss retail this year; its research with the University of St. Gallen finds that about half of consumers would use AI-assisted shopping, but security, control and responsibility worry them most (netzwoche).

Both stories turn on delegated authority: proving who an agent is and what it may do. The rule for everyday use is simple: never hand passwords or card data to an agent, and use delegation that is limited, logged and revocable.

People who lose their jobs are often targeted by scams that ask for exactly these details. Basic digital security is the first lesson in every course we offer, because it protects the little money people have while they retrain.

Practical step: list which accounts and payment functions you or your staff might hand to AI tools, forbid sharing credentials and require delegated access instead.