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Last week we reported on Amazons launch of agentic AI, now Mastercard has unveiled its latest initiative to reshape the future of commerce: Agent Pay, a platform that integrates agentic artificial intelligence (AI) into payment systems.
Mastercard launch agentic AI payments
The new program introduces Mastercard Agentic Tokens, extending the company’s established tokenisation capabilities and positioning the firm at the vanguard of “agentic commerce.”
Agentic commerce refers to transactions initiated and executed by intelligent AI agents on behalf of users, drawing on their preferences, behaviours and permissions.
By weaving payments into conversational platforms and AI-led interfaces, Mastercard aims to deliver more intelligent, secure, and frictionless transactions across consumer and business contexts.
“Agent Pay represents our first major leap into redefining commerce in the age of AI,” said Jorn Lambert, Mastercard’s Chief Product Officer.
“This technology will not only distinguish trusted AI agents from bad actors, but will also lay the groundwork for new standards and protocols around agentic payments.”
At the heart of the program are Mastercard’s Agentic Tokens – a secure, dynamic alternative to static card numbers.
These tokens already support contactless payments and online commerce, but are now being extended to support programmable transactions such as subscriptions and recurring payments.
Crucially, they will enable AI agents to complete purchases independently, within tightly controlled consumer-defined parameters.
From Party Planning to Procurement
The real-world applications are varied and compelling.
Mastercard envisions a world in which a consumer planning a 30th birthday could interact with an AI agent to select outfits, coordinate accessories, and even book venues – with the agent empowered to make payments using pre-authorised credentials.
Similarly, a small business could deploy AI to handle procurement, optimise supplier payments, and manage cross-border logistics, completing purchases via tokenised virtual cards.
This frictionless integration of payments into AI workflows is being bolstered by partnerships with major technology players.
Microsoft will collaborate on scaling agentic commerce use cases using its Azure OpenAI Service and Copilot Studio, while IBM will support enterprise applications via watsonx Orchestrate.
Payments infrastructure partners like Braintree and Checkout.com will help extend tokenisation capabilities to acquirers and merchants, ensuring seamless deployment across the ecosystem.
Trust, Transparency and Consumer Control
Security and governance remain central pillars of the programme.
Mastercard’s framework requires AI agents to be authenticated and registered before initiating payments.
Transactions will be fully transparent to consumers and merchants, with strong authentication enforced via on-device biometrics and other mechanisms.
Importantly, consumers retain full control over the scope of permissions granted to AI agents – dictating exactly what they are authorised to buy, and under what circumstances.
Mastercard also stressed its commitment to responsible AI, ensuring safeguards are embedded throughout the lifecycle of an agentic payment – before, during, and after the transaction.
This includes robust fraud detection, dispute resolution protocols, and enhanced visibility for banks and merchants.
AI Continues to Evolve
As conversational AI continues to evolve, Mastercard’s Agent Pay signals a decisive move toward embedding payment capabilities directly into the ambient digital experiences of tomorrow.
It also reflects the industry’s broader push to future-proof commerce through standards such as the Model Context Protocol for Secure Remote Commerce.
The launch marks an ambitious step toward intelligent, autonomous, and secure financial transactions – where AI acts not just as an assistant, but as a fully fledged agent in the payments value chain.
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