Payment firms to develop framework to recognise AI agents that help users make purchases

Ant International, Mastercard and Visa launched an initiative on Thursday (Sep 10) to develop a Know-Your-Agent interoperability framework for identifying and verifying AI agents that make purchases on behalf of users. The framework builds on Visa's Trusted Agent Protocol, Mastercard Verifiable Intent and Ant International's Agentic Mobile Protocol, and the companies will collaborate through BuildFin.ai, a platform convened by the Monetary Authority of Singapore. The companies said the initiative could reduce integration costs and accelerate new agentic services by providing greater trust and risk visibility across participating card networks, digital wallets, agent platforms and online marketplaces.

Payment firms to develop framework to recognise AI agents that help users make purchases This comes as the payments industry prepares for the growth of agentic global consumer commerce BENGALURU Ant International, Mastercard and Visa have launched an initiative to develop common standards to identify and verify artificial intelligence agents that can make purchases on behalf of users. The companies said on Thursday Sep 10 they had begun collaborating on a Know-Your-Agent interoperability framework that would allow card networks, digital wallets, agent platforms and online marketplaces to recognise trusted AI agents across different payment ecosystems while maintaining their own approval and risk management processes. The initiative comes as the payments industry prepares for the growth of agentic global consumer commerce, in which AI agents evolve from making recommendations to completing purchases on behalf of users. The framework builds on the companies’ existing protocols, including Visa’s Trusted Agent Protocol, Mastercard Verifiable Intent and Ant International’s Agentic Mobile Protocol. The companies said the initiative could help reduce integration costs and accelerate the launch of new agentic services by providing greater trust and risk visibility across participating networks. Ant International, Mastercard and Visa said they would collaborate through BuildFin.ai, a platform convened by the Monetary Authority of Singapore that brings together financial institutions, technology providers and researchers to develop AI solutions for financial services. REUTERS Decoding Asia newsletter: your guide to navigating Asia in a new global order. Sign up here to get Decoding Asia newsletter. Delivered to your inbox. Free. Share with us your feedback on BT's products and services