Meta prepares UK launch for Muse AI agent as banks block access

Meta's UK expansion plans

Meta is preparing to launch its Muse AI agent in the United Kingdom within the coming weeks. The company plans to announce specific partnerships with several retailers to allow the assistant to perform purchases directly on their websites. This move follows Muse's recent expansion into markets like Mexico, Singapore, and Japan.

The assistant is designed to function as a personal helper that can perform various tasks, such as reading emails, paying bills, and booking transportation. It operates through a standalone app and is intended to handle complex requests by acting on behalf of the user. Meta's strategy involves making the tool free for most people while offering a subscription for intensive users.

The company's growth strategy for the tool appears to be accelerating quickly. While Meta previously reported 10 million users in early November, current figures suggest the user base has already surpassed 11 million. Mark Zuckerberg described the launch as one of the company's most successful efforts to date, aiming to put personal superintelligence into the hands of billions.

The friction with UK banks

While Meta is seeking to open doors with retailers, the UK's financial sector is moving to close them. Five major lenders—HSBC, Nationwide, NatWest, Barclays, and Lloyds—have taken steps to block AI agents from accessing customer accounts. These moves come as the industry grapples with the security implications of automated agents handling sensitive financial data.

This trend is not isolated to the United Kingdom. Our coverage shows that these five UK lenders join a growing list of 12 financial firms that have implemented similar blocks. This includes five US banks, as well as the Royal Bank of Canada and Charles Schwab, which specifically named Muse when discussing its restrictions.

The conflict highlights a structural divide in the emerging 'agentic commerce' landscape. On one side, merchants are looking to provide Muse with the ability to navigate their sites and complete transactions. On the other side, the gatekeepers of the money—the banks—are creating technical barriers to prevent those same agents from moving funds or accessing private accounts.

How the money model works

Meta's economic plan for Muse relies on a mix of transaction fees and direct subscriptions. For the majority of users, the service will remain free, but Meta will take a fee based on the specific transactions it facilitates for the consumer. This model aligns the company's success with the volume of successful commerce completed through the AI agent.

Data from Meta suggests that the average product sold through the assistant is approximately $200. This provides a baseline for the types of retail interactions the company expects Muse to handle as it scales. By facilitating these sales, Meta positions itself as a primary intermediary between the consumer's intent and the merchant's inventory.

The goal is to move from a model where users simply talk to an AI to one where they delegate tasks to it. This shift means that value migrates from the interaction itself toward the actual execution of the task. Muse is designed to be the entity that the user delegates to, making the success of the tool dependent on its ability to navigate external platforms successfully.

Regulatory and security hurdles

The rapid deployment of agentic AI is drawing significant attention from UK regulators. A group of authorities, including the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and the Competition and Markets Authority, recently noted that these agents could amplify and accelerate risks. The ICO has specifically opened a call for evidence to understand the data-protection risks inherent in using AI agents.

These concerns are rooted in the fact that agents like Muse are designed to access personal information to perform tasks. Because they can read emails and manage payments, they require high levels of trust and security. Regulators are looking to determine how these tools will handle sensitive data without compromising user privacy or creating new vulnerabilities in the digital economy.

The tension between innovation and safety will likely dictate the pace of Muse's adoption in the UK. While Meta is pushing for a wide release, the combination of banking blocks and regulatory scrutiny suggests a complex rollout. The success of the UK launch will depend on whether Meta can find a way to navigate these security barriers while still providing a seamless shopping experience for its users.