The Rise of Agentic Banking
We are witnessing the early days of a massive technological platform shift. As AI capabilities advance, people are delegating more tasks to AI agents—and financial services are no exception. The question is no longer whether AI will interact with banking systems, but how it will do so safely and effectively.
Why MCP Matters for Banking
Traditional approaches to AI-banking integration involved giving AI access to passwords or having it scrape websites—approaches that are insecure and often violate terms of service. MCP provides a standardized, secure protocol for AI agents to access banking services with proper authentication, authorization, and audit trails.
- Standardization — MCP is an open protocol, reducing integration friction across different AI models and banking platforms
- Security — Proper authentication, granular permissions, and revocable access replace insecure workarounds
- Interoperability — Same MCP server can work with Claude, ChatGPT, and other compatible AI models
- Auditability — All AI interactions can be logged and monitored for compliance
Griffin: The Agentic Bank
Griffin, a UK-based Banking-as-a-Service platform regulated by the PRA and FCA (FRN 970920), is pioneering full read-write MCP capabilities. Their MCP server enables AI agents to:
- Open bank accounts programmatically
- Initiate payments and transfers
- Analyze transaction history and patterns
- Build complete fintech application prototypes
Currently in beta with sandbox access, Griffin is actively working with customers who want to deploy agentic banking capabilities in production settings.
Grasshopper Bank: First US Bank with MCP
Grasshopper Bank, partnering with digital banking technology provider Narmi, launched the first MCP server by a US bank in August 2025. Their implementation focuses on read-only access for business banking clients, enabling:
- Natural language queries for account balances and transaction data
- AI-powered expense categorization and vendor analysis
- Cash flow forecasting and predictive insights
- Budget guidance for small businesses and startups
The read-only constraint is intentional—it provides valuable insights without the risk of AI initiating unintended transactions. General availability is expected in Q4 2025.
Coinbase Payments MCP: On-Chain Payments for AI
Coinbase launched Payments MCP in September 2025, enabling AI agents to conduct autonomous on-chain financial transactions using stablecoins. Unlike traditional banking MCP implementations focused on account access, Coinbase's approach enables agents to actually spend money autonomously.
- Embedded wallet creation with email/OTP authentication
- USDC onramp integration for wallet funding
- Stablecoin payments via the x402 protocol
- Compatible with Claude Desktop, Gemini, and other LLMs
The x402 protocol leverages HTTP's "402 Payment Required" status code to enable instant stablecoin payments directly over HTTP. This allows APIs, apps, and agents to transact seamlessly without subscriptions or manual checkout processes. Install via npx @coinbase/payments-mcp.
The Future of Agentic Banking
As MCP adoption grows, we can expect:
- More banks launching MCP servers — Both established banks and neobanks
- Expanded capabilities — From read-only to read-write in more jurisdictions
- Regulatory frameworks — Specific guidance for AI access to banking services
- New fintech applications — Built natively on agentic banking capabilities
- Integration with Open Banking — MCP complementing existing Open Banking APIs
Related Resources
Explore our other directories to understand the broader open banking and fintech ecosystem.
Know a Bank with MCP Support?
We're tracking all banks implementing MCP servers. If you know of a bank we should add to this directory, let us know.
