Mastercard and PayPal unite to advance agentic commerce

Mastercard and PayPal have announced a collaboration that could define how consumers and businesses transact in the emerging world of agentic commerce.

PayPal unite to advance agentic commerce

At the heart of the initiative is the integration of Mastercard’s Agent Pay platform with PayPal’s digital wallet, a move designed to make it easier and safer for AI agents to complete purchases on behalf of users.

The integration will bring together hundreds of millions of consumers and tens of millions of merchants across the globe, linking Mastercard’s secure payments infrastructure with PayPal’s vast merchant network and wallet ecosystem.

Agentic Commerce

Agentic commerce — where AI agents act autonomously to find, compare, and buy products for users — is fast becoming a defining trend in digital retail.

This partnership positions Mastercard and PayPal at the forefront of that transformation, enabling seamless, tokenised transactions that prioritise both convenience and security.

Under the new arrangement, Mastercard cardholders will be able to access their credentials securely via PayPal checkout whenever their AI agent interacts with a PayPal-accepting merchant.

In practice, this means that when a consumer asks an AI assistant to make a purchase — such as ordering a new pair of running shoes — the agent can identify PayPal as the preferred payment option, confirm the user’s identity, and finalise the transaction through Mastercard’s trusted authentication and tokenisation systems.

PayPal will also pilot Mastercard’s Agent Pay Acceptance Framework, working alongside agents and merchants to ensure interoperability with Mastercard’s network and with emerging agentic commerce protocols.

This pilot will test critical features such as agent verification, data exchange standards, and real-world merchant readiness.

Both companies emphasise that the partnership is not only about enhancing convenience, but about building trust in AI-driven commerce.

“Mastercard doesn’t just enable payments — we’re relentlessly pushing the boundaries of what’s possible,” said Sherri Haymond, co-president of Global Partnerships at Mastercard.

“Together with PayPal, we’re laying the groundwork for secure, seamless agentic payments at global scale.

Michelle Gill, executive vice president and general manager of Small Business & Financial Services at PayPal, added, “By combining Mastercard’s Agent Pay with our wallet, we’re empowering merchants and consumers to participate in agentic commerce with trust and flexibility at the centre.”

As AI continues to reshape consumer behaviour, this collaboration signals a decisive step toward a more autonomous, intelligent, and secure future for digital payments — one where human approval remains central, but AI does the heavy lifting behind the scenes.