Sort the request first. Lowering or removing an overdraft at the customer's request is something the agent can do within bounds. A new overdraft or a higher limit is a credit decision: the agent gathers consent and evidence, and an approved credit model or an underwriter decides. Customers who rely on their overdraft month after month are routed to support.
What is the process, and who owns it?
An arranged overdraft is a credit line on a current account. Customers ask to open one, raise it, lower it, remove it, or stretch it for a week until pay day. The requests sound similar and carry very different risk. Lowering a limit reduces the bank's exposure and the customer's cost. Raising one extends credit, which in the EU means a creditworthiness assessment of a natural person, listed as high-risk in Annex III of the EU AI Act.
The head of current accounts owns the process. Credit risk owns the decisioning policy and any approved model. Underwriters decide cases the model refers. The financial support team takes customers in difficulty. For the wider frame, see our guide to AI agents in banking.
What are the steps, and who acts at each one?
- Agent, depth 1: authenticates and reads the account. Current limit, usage over recent months, income credits, fees charged, flags. Evidence: facts used.
- Agent, depth 1: classifies the request. Decrease, removal, new, increase, temporary extension. Evidence: request type.
- Agent, depth 1: screens for difficulty. Persistent use near the limit, repeated fees, the customer saying they are struggling. Evidence: screening result.
- Agent, depth 3: applies decreases and removals. If the account balance is within the new limit, it applies the change and confirms in writing. If the account is overdrawn beyond the new limit, it explains the options and passes the case to a person. Evidence: change and confirmation.
- Agent, depth 2: for new limits and increases, gathers consent and information. Consent to a credit search if your process requires one, and any income or outgoings information the policy asks for. Evidence: consent record and inputs.
- Approved model or underwriter: decides. The agent submits the request; it does not decide. Evidence: decision with reasons.
- Agent, depth 3: applies an approved limit and confirms it with the cost, in plain terms. Declines are explained using the recorded reasons. Evidence: limit change and message.
- Person, financial support: takes difficulty cases. Options might include reducing the limit gradually, a repayment plan, or a review of fees. Evidence: case and outcome.
| Step | The agent does | Depth | Stays with a person |
|---|---|---|---|
| Read | Gathers usage, income, fees | 1 | Nothing |
| Classify | Identifies the request type | 1 | Nothing |
| Screen | Checks for difficulty | 1 | Support team for any signal |
| Decrease or remove | Applies when balance allows | 3 | Accounts overdrawn beyond the new limit |
| New or increase | Gathers consent and inputs | 2 | Nothing yet |
| Decide | Submits to the decision process | none | Approved model or underwriter |
| Apply and confirm | Sets the approved limit, explains cost | 3 | Nothing |
| Difficulty | Prepares the case | 2 | Support specialist |
Which controls matter, and what evidence do they leave?
The agent never decides credit. Increases and new limits come from the approved decision process. Evidence: decision source on every limit change.
Decreases checked against the balance. A limit cut below the current balance tips the account into unarranged borrowing and fees. Evidence: balance check on each decrease.
Cost shown in money. The confirmation states what the overdraft costs at typical use, as an amount. Evidence: confirmation text.
Difficulty screening on every request. Including requests to increase, which are often the clearest signal. Evidence: screening result.
Accessible communication. Customers who need information in another format get it; how agents should handle those requests is covered in whether an AI agent can handle accessibility requests. Evidence: format preference recorded and honoured.
What should you measure?
- Time from request to decision, for increases and new limits.
- Decreases processed, and any that caused unarranged borrowing. Target zero.
- Customers in persistent use routed to support, and outcomes.
- Increases followed by arrears within a few months.
- Complaints about overdraft decisions or costs.
- Temporary extensions that ended on time, against those extended again.
Where does it usually go wrong?
Increases are granted on request. The agent treats "can I have more?" as service, not credit. Keep decisions with the approved process.
Persistent use is missed. A customer at the limit every month is paying for credit they cannot clear. Increasing it deepens the problem.
Removal strands the customer. The customer asks to remove an overdraft they are using, and the agent obliges. Now every payment fails. Check the balance first.
Temporary extensions become permanent. A week's extension is applied without an end date.
Overdrafts are handled in isolation. A customer with an overdraft at the limit and a loan in arrears needs one conversation, not two. Loan options are covered in handling loan restructuring requests and handling loan payment holiday requests.
Where Pryme fits
In Pryme, applying a decrease and applying an approved limit are separate capabilities, each certified on your own past requests and checked at the moment of action against the account balance, your limits and the decision source. The agent cannot write a limit increase that did not come from your approved decision process, and every request, screening result and change is filed.
Questions people ask
Can the agent offer a temporary overdraft extension?
Only within a policy that sets the amount, the length and the eligibility, and only if the extension carries an end date the platform enforces. Anything else goes to the decision process.
What if the customer wants to remove the overdraft but is using it?
The agent explains that removing it would leave the account overdrawn without an arrangement, which usually costs more. It can offer a reduction plan and passes the case to a person if the customer wants help.
Does reducing an overdraft need a credit check?
Usually not; it reduces credit. Check your policy, but most lenders treat a customer-requested decrease as a service change.